Top 9 Best selling 360Hz FHD laptops (popular among gaming & business)

18 October, 2021 | Laptop Reviews | 22 seen

Competitive gaming?  Think 360Hz display!

• Top 15 Best Selling 240Hz laptops (gaming & business)
• Top 17 Best Selling Gaming Laptops with 144hz Display

A quick note: This article contains affiliate links to Amazon, 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.

Razer Blade 15 Advanced Gaming Laptop 2021: Intel Core i7-10875H 8-Core, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, 15.6” 360Hz Full HD, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD - CNC Aluminum - Chroma RGB - THX Spatial Audio - Thunderbolt 3

• GeForce RTX 3070: NVIDIA’s 2nd gen RTX—with new RT Cores, Tensor Cores, and streaming multiprocessors to give the most realistic ray-traced graphics and improved performance
• More Power, More Cores: The 8-Core 10th Gen Intel Core i7-10875H processor provides the ultimate level of performance with up to 5.1GHz Max Turbo
• Thin and Compact: The CNC aluminum unibody frame houses incredible performance in the most compact footprint possible, while remaining remarkably durable and just 0.7" thin
• Innovative Cooling: A unique vacuum sealed, liquid filled copper vapor chamber spans the heat generating components and is the key to getting maximum performance and user comfort in a compact, thin design
• Make It Yours: Customize the backlight color of the keyboard with Razer Chroma, and expand the memory and storage, making the Razer Blade 15 uniquely yours

List price: [amazon B08SJJ9MQ5 listpriceformattedprice] Buy this laptop on Amazon (Paid link)

MSI GE76 Raider 17.3" 360Hz FHD Display, Intel Core i9-11980HK, NVIDIA GeForce RTX3080, 32GB, 1TB NVMe SSD, Win10 ,Titanium Blue (11UH-053)

• Visual Prowess: The 17.3” 360Hz FHD display delivers true-to-life images with a high refresh rate so you can see every frame of the game.
• Redefined Power: The 11th Gen. Intel Core i9 processor, delivers high performance to take on any games and applications with ease.
• Supercharged Graphics: The MSI GE76 Raider is powered by NVIDIA GeForce RTX, take on today's most popular games with these performance graphics.
• On the Go Gaming: Designed to be the ultimate portable gaming station with immense power and a 99.9WHr battery to keep you gaming for longer.
• Cool and Powerful: MSI’s exclusive Cooler Boost Technology ensures optimal thermal dissipation. Featuring state of the art fans and heat pipes, get the airflow you need for gaming.
• Customized Keys: Customize each key to your liking and receive real-time in-game status through keyboard lighting, or even watch the lights dance to your favorite tune.

List price: [amazon B095C23PMJ listpriceformattedprice] Buy this laptop on Amazon (Paid link)

Razer Blade Pro 17 Gaming Laptop 2021: Intel Core i7-11800H 8-Core, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, 17.3" FHD 360Hz, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD - Chroma RGB - Thunderbolt 3 - SD Card Reader

• NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 Series Graphics for Stunning Visuals: Built on NVIDIA’s award-winning 2nd-gen RTX architecture, these GPUs provide the most realistic ray-traced graphics and cutting-edge AI features for the most powerful graphics in a gaming laptop.
• Intel 11th Gen 8-Core CPU for All-out Gaming Performance: Run the heaviest AAA titles and creation tasks without breaking a sweat, and activate Intel Turbo Boost Technology for a jolt of speed that brings the i7 processor up to 5.1GHz.
• Next-gen Displays to Meet Your Needs: Go with ultra-fast 360Hz FHD for competitive gaming,120Hz UHD for creative work with 4K clarity, or a 165Hz QHD display for the best of both worlds.
• Vapor Chamber Cooling for Maximized Thermal Performance: The laptop quietly and efficiently dissipates heat through the evaporation and condensation of an internal fluid, keeping it running smoothly and coolly even under intense loads.
• Advanced Connectivity for Greater Convenience: With built-in WiFi-6 and a UHS-III SD card slot, you can cut down on adapters and travel light.
• Windows 11 Compatible: Includes Windows 10 Home with a free upgrade to Windows 11 when available through Windows Update – experience the best Windows ever for gaming with superior graphics and faster load times

List price: [amazon B0997D2164 listpriceformattedprice] Buy this laptop on Amazon (Paid link)

MSI GE76 Raider 17.3" 360Hz FHD Display, Intel Core i7-11800H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX3080, 32GB, 1TB NVMe SSD, Win10 ,Titanium Blue (11UH-245)

• Visual Prowess: The 17.3” 360Hz FHD display delivers true-to-life images with a high refresh rate so you can see every frame of the game.
• Redefined Power: The 11th Gen. Intel Core i9 processor, delivers high performance to take on any games and applications with ease.
• Supercharged Graphics: The MSI GE76 Raider is powered by NVIDIA GeForce RTX, take on today's most popular games with these performance graphics.
• On the Go Gaming: Designed to be the ultimate portable gaming station with immense power and a 99.9WHr battery to keep you gaming for longer.
• Cool and Powerful: MSI’s exclusive Cooler Boost Technology ensures optimal thermal dissipation. Featuring state of the art fans and heat pipes, get the airflow you need for gaming.
• Customized Keys: Customize each key to your liking and receive real-time in-game status through keyboard lighting, or even watch the lights dance to your favorite tune.

List price: [amazon B095BVGTQS listpriceformattedprice] Buy this laptop on Amazon (Paid link)

ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17 (2021) Gaming Laptop, 17.3” 360Hz IPS FHD, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX, 16GB DDR4, 1TB SSD, Opti-Mechanical Per-Key RGB Keyboard, Windows 10 Pro, G733QSA-PB96

• NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 16GB GDDR6 with ROG Boost up to 1645MHz at 115W (130W with Dynamic Boost 2.0)
• 360Hz 3ms 17.3” Full HD 1920x1080 IPS-Type Display
• 16GB DDR4 3200MHz RAM | 1TB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD | Windows 10 Professional
• ROG Intelligent Cooling thermal system with Thermal Grizzly Liquid Metal Thermal Compound
• Opti-mechanical per-key RGB keyboard
• Wi-Fi 6 with RangeBoost & Bluetooth 5.1 | ROG Keystone II | ROG Easy Upgrade Design

List price: [amazon B09HJYG6LC listpriceformattedprice] Buy this laptop on Amazon (Paid link)

CUK ROG Strix Scar Gaming Notebook (Ryzen 9 5900HX, 64GB RAM, 2x2TB NVMe SSD, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 10GB, 17.3" FHD 360Hz, Windows 10 Pro) 17 Inch Gamer Laptop Computer(Made_by_ASUS_)

• Processor: Ryzen 9 5900HX Eight Core Processor (16MB Cache, 3.3GHz-4.6GHz) 45W
• RAM: 64GB DDR4 3200MHz | Hard Drive: 2X2TB NVMe Solid State Drive
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 | Operating System: Windows 10 Professional x64
• Display: 360Hz 3ms - 17.3 IN Full HD 1920x1080 IPS-Type Display | Wireless: Wi-Fi 6 with RangeBoost & Bluetooth 5.1 | Rog Keystone II
• 64GB RAM | 2X2TB NVME Upgrades | 3-Year CUK Limited Warranty

List price: [amazon B09449TTSB listpriceformattedprice] Buy this laptop on Amazon (Paid link)

Alienware X15 R1, 15.6 inch FHD 360Hz Non-Touch Gaming Laptop - Intel Core i7-11800H, 16GB DDR4 RAM, 1TB SSD, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 8GB GDDR6, Windows 11 Home - White, Lunar Light (Latest Model)

• 15.6-inch FHD (1920 x 1080) 360Hz 1ms with ComfortView Plus, NVIDIA G-SYNC and Advanced Optimus
• 11th Generation Intel Core i7-11800H (24MB Cache, up to 4.6 GHz, 8 cores)
• 16GB 3200MHz DDR4, 1TB M.2 PCIe NVMe Solid State Drive
• NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 8GB GDDR6
• Killer AX 1675 + Bluetooth 5.2

List price: [amazon B09DFJD6CH listpriceformattedprice] Buy this laptop on Amazon (Paid link)

Acer Nitro 5 AN517-41-R3NX Gaming Laptop, AMD Ryzen 7 5800H Octa-Core CPU | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU | 17.3" FHD 360Hz IPS 3ms Display | 16GB DDR4 | 1TB NVMe SSD | WiFi 6 | RGB Keyboard

• AMD Ryzen 7 5800H Octa-Core Processor (Up to 4.4GHz) | Windows 10 Home
• 17.3" Full HD (1920 x 1080) LED-backlit IPS Display with 360Hz Refresh Rate | 3ms Overdrive Response Time | 300nit Brightness | 100% sRGB | 16:9 aspect ratio
• NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU with 8 GB of dedicated GDDR6 VRAM with NVIDIA DLSS | NVIDIA Resizable BAR | NVIDIA Dynamic Boost 2.0 | NVIDIA GPU Boost
• 16GB DDR4 3200MHz Memory | 1TB NVMe SSD (2 x PCIe M.2 Slots - 1 Slot Open for Easy Upgrades) & 1 - Available 2.5" Hard Drive Bay
• 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6 Dual-Band 2.4GHz and 5GHz featuring 2x2 MU-MIMO technology | LAN: Killer Ethernet E2600 Gigabit Ethernet LAN | Bluetooth 5.1

List price: [amazon B093J9ZNJK listpriceformattedprice] Buy this laptop on Amazon (Paid link)

Alienware m17 R4, 17.3 inch FHD (Full HD) Gaming Laptop - Intel Core i7-10870H, 16GB DDR4 RAM, 1TB SSD, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 6GB GDDR6, Windows 10 Home - Lunar Light (Latest Model)

• 17.3-inch FHD (Full HD 1920 x 1080) 360Hz 5ms 300-nits 100% sRGB color gamut with NVIDIA-GSYNC technology
• 10th Generation Intel Core i7-10870H (8-Core, 16MB Cache, up to 5.0GHz Max Turbo Frequency)
• 16GB 2933MHz DDR4 , 1 TB PCIe SSD
• NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 6 GB GDDR6
• Killer Wi-Fi 6 AX1650i 802.11ax 2x2 Wireless LAN + Bluetooth 5.1

List price: [amazon B08XFQ9JQ3 listpriceformattedprice] Buy this laptop on Amazon (Paid link)

Valmiera & Cēsis 2021

15 October, 2021 | Tourism objects | 9 seen

Valmiera & Cēsis from a drone flight.

Took a quick day trip from Riga on January 2, 2021, to visit some lesser-known places

DJI Mavic Air 2, music by Scott Holmes - Discovery

Invest in These 5 Stocks From The Dow Jones list With Covered Calls and Collect Dividend

14 October, 2021 | Investments | 20 seen

One of my preferred investing strategies is investing in stocks from The Dogs of The Dow List.  Currently (2021), these are the Small Dogs of The Dow stocks: DOW, VZ, WBA, CSCO, and KO.

In 2021 PFE was replaced by VZ in the Small Dogs list. 

In today's article, I will take a quick glimpse at a potential return from investing in these five stocks with options (covered calls) + collecting the dividend during the road.

Book my Covered Calls Course | How to Generate Income from Options

For this example, I'm going to virtually buy 100 shares at each company. All prices below are listed as of October 8, 2021

Ticker

Price

Shares

value

Div

Yearly Dividend

Monthly Options

DOW

$58.71

100

$5,871.00

4.77%

$280.00

$219.00

VZ

$53.24

100

$5,324.00

4.81%

$256.00

$65.00

WBA

$47.38

100

$4,738.00

4.03%

$191.00

$154.00

CSCO

$55.08

100

$5,508.00

2.69%

$148.00

$90.00

KO

$54.12

100

$5,412.00

3.10%

$168.00

$73.00

$26,853.00

$1,043.00

$601.00

Data source: Google Finance, Dividend.com, and finance.yahoo.com (Stock and options prices as of October 8, 2021, options expiry November 12, 2021)

From the dividend investing perspective, these stocks look quite awesome. We might get a bit more than $1,000 USD in one year just in form of dividends. The dividend income though is before tax, so take out at least 15%. Still quite good income, for doing nothing much, just holding stakes in great companies.

To invest in these 5 Small Dogs of the Dow, I would need to have a $26,853 lump sum. Sure, this is an option, but as I don't have free 26K to throw in the stock market, I would most probably go for dollar-cost averaging - acquiring stocks over a longer period of time, say 1 year, buying once in a month.

Options income is not so predictable as dividend income, but still, it seems some might be able to pull out around $600/monthly by selling just covered calls on these stocks. $600*12 = $7,200.

Now, this is some serious options income. By combined both options premium and dividend income, some could pull about $8,000 annually from these 5 stocks. That sounds like a 29% yield annually. Awesome

Currently I'm holding 100 DOW, 11 WBA.

I'm hoping to add 100 KO and missing 89 WBA in a timeframe of one year to my dividend stock portfolio. Not considering VZ and CSCO yet, as I'm still holding PFE stock (PFE got replaced by VZ in 2021) but you never know.

Subscribe to my newsletter on investing with covered calls

Big Shiraki Abandoned Soviet Airfield in Georgia

13 October, 2021 | Military Heritage | 427 seen

If you are into military heritage or have some interest in Soviet history - Big Shiraki airfield in the Georgian dessert (steppe) might be an interesting object to visit in Georgia.

I had not a single idea there even exsit such place here in Georgia, but at the astart of June, during a Vashlovani trip, a German friend took us to this place.

Not an expert on Soviet or any other military I was told that during the Soviet Era Sukhoi figher jets were based here. At start it looked bit unrealistic, as the small angars looked capable of storing some smaller aircraft not a figherjet, but latter I learned the Sukhoi airplane could actually be stored here.

Around 1950, the Soviet government constructed a military airbase known as Greater Shiraki (Russian: Большие Шираки, Bol'shiye Shiraki) in the steppe. It was home to the 178th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment (Russian: 168-й гвардейский истребительный авиационный Краснознамённый полк), which took part in the Soviet–Afghan War and returned to Georgia in 1989.

Nowadays, the airfield is used as a grassland by local farmers

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the remaining 30 Su-24 attack aircraft were relocated to Russia by June 1992 and the Greater Shiraki airfield was transferred to a now independent Georgia by October 1992. The airfield was never systematically used by the Georgian military and its infrastructure went in decay.

By 2006, the territory of the former air base had been privatized. During the Russo-Georgian War, on 11 August 2008, the Russian jets dropped bombs on the abandoned Shiraki airfield

Here is an interesting article I found for further reading.

Restaurant Lakeside Tskaltubo

12 October, 2021 | Restaurant reviews | 42 seen

Restaurant Lakeside is located in the town of Tskaltubo, Georgia on the lake Tsivi.

First discovered and visited at the start of September 2021

In the evening life music was performed. Really chill atmosphere. Food was good.

Top 5 Best Selling Nvidia Quadro RTX 5000 Laptops

11 October, 2021 | Laptop Reviews | 331 seen

Shatter the boundaries of what’s possible with NVIDIA® Quadro RTX™ 5000. Powered by the NVIDIA Turing™ architecture and the NVIDIA RTX™ platform, it fuses ray tracing, deep learning, and advanced shading to supercharge next-generation workflows. Creative and technical professionals can make more informed decisions faster and tackle demanding design and visualization workloads with ease.

In this article I've listed top 5 best selling laptops with Nvidia Quadro RTX 5000 on Amazon

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links to Amazon.com, by clicking on links on this page and by making a purchase on the 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 to the product page on Amazon.

ASUS ProArt StudioBook Pro 15 Mobile Workstation Laptop, 15.6” UHD NanoEdge Bezel, Intel Core i7-9750H, 48GB DDR4, 2TB PCIe SSD, Nvidia Quadro RTX 5000, Windows 10 Pro, W500G5T-XS77, Star Grey

• 15.6'' UHD (3840*2160) NanoEdge matte display; 100% Adobe RGB; Pantone validated color accuracy; Delta E <1.5
• Intel Core i7-9750H (12M Cache, up to 4.5GHz) with Windows 10 Professional
• NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000 with 16GB GDDR6 VRAM - RTX Studio Ready
• Fast storage and memory featuring 1TB + 1TB (2TB total) PCIe NVMe SSD (RAID 0) Hyper Drive and 48GB DDR4 Memory
• Extensive connectivity with HDMI 2.0, RJ45, USB-C Thunderbolt 3, USB 3.1 Gen 1

List price: [amazon B082M2QV3L listpriceformattedprice] Buy this laptop on Amazon (Paid link)

Razer Blade 15 Studio Edition Laptop 2020: Intel Core i7-10875H 8-Core, NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000, 15.6” 4K OLED Touch, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD, CNC Aluminum, Chroma RGB, Thunderbolt 3, Creator Ready

• More Power, More Cores: The 8-Core 10th Gen Intel Core i7-10875H processor provides the ultimate level of performance with up to 5. 1GHz Max Turbo.
• Studio Ready: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Super with Max-Q Design (8GB GDDR6 VRAM) graphics is up to 25% faster than the original RTX 20 Series with more cores and higher clocks.
• Vivid Visuals: The 4K OLED touch display delivers blazing fast 1ms response time and a wide color range covering 100% of the DCI-P3 space, while the HDR 400 True Black ensures deep blacks and vibrant colors.
• Thin and Compact: The CNC aluminum unibody frame houses incredible performance in the most compact footprint possible, while remaining remarkably durable and just 0. 7" thin.
• Innovative Cooling: A unique vacuum sealed, liquid filled copper vapor chamber spans the heat generating components and is the key to getting maximum performance and user comfort in a compact, thin design.
• Connectivity technology: HDMI

List price: [amazon B086MP21NF listpriceformattedprice] Buy this laptop on Amazon (Paid link)

New Precision 7750 Mobile workstations Laptop with10th Gen i9-10885H, 8 Core up to 5.30GHz Quadro RTX 5000 w/16GB 17.3" UltraSharp 4K IGZO AG Display (4TB SSD|128GB RAM|Win 10 PRO)

• Processor 10th Gen Intel Core i9-10885H (8 Core, 16MB Cache, 2.40 GHz to 5.30 GHz, 45W,vPro)
• 128GB DDR4-2666 SDRAM memory Upgrade Plenty of high-bandwidth RAM to smoothly run your games and photo- and video-editing applications
• 4TB PCIe Solid State Drive. Save files fast and store more data.
• Graphics Card Nvidia Quadro RTX 5000 w/16GB GDDR6 Workstation Video Card
• 17.3" UltraSharp UHD IGZO 3840x2160 AG NT,No WWAN,IR Cam/Mic,w/Prem Panel Guar 100% Adobe Aluminum

List price: [amazon B07W5K9DJR listpriceformattedprice] Buy this laptop on Amazon (Paid link)

New ThinkPad P17 (17”) Mobile Workstation 10th Intel Xeon W-10855M vPro 5.10GHz 8 core Quadro RTX 5000 Max-Q 16GB 17.3" 4K UHD IPS Display Win 10 Pro (8TB SSD|128GB RAM|RTX 5000 16G)

• Processor Intel Xeon W-10585M Processor with vPro (2.40GHz, up to 5.10GHz with Turbo Boost, 8 Cores, 16 Threads, 16MB Cache)
• Memory 128GB DDR4 2933MHz (32GB X 4) Upgrade
• Storage 8TB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Upgrade
• Quadro RTX 5000 with Max-Q 16GB
• Display 17.3" UHD (3480 x 2160) IPS, anti-glare with Dolby Vision HDR 400, 500 nits

List price: [amazon B0963KM52Z listpriceformattedprice] Buy this laptop on Amazon (Paid link)

New ThinkPad P17 (17”) Mobile Workstation 10th Gen i9-10885H with vPro 8 core Quadro RTX 5000 with Max-Q 16GB 17.3" 4K UHD IPS Display Win 10 Pro (4TB SSD|128GB RAM)

• 10th Generation Intel Core i9-10885H Processor with vPro (2.40 GHz, up to 5.30 GHz with Turbo Boost, 8 Cores, 16 Threads, 16 MB Cache)
• Memory 128GB DDR4 2933MHz (32GB X 4) Upgrade
• Storage 4TB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Upgrade
• Graphics Quadro RTX 5000 with Max-Q 16GB
• Display 17.3" UHD (3480 x 2160) IPS, anti-glare with Dolby Vision HDR 400, 500 nits

List price: [amazon B091P6FG44 listpriceformattedprice] Buy this laptop on Amazon (Paid link)

Investing With Covered Calls in Dow Inc. 365 days challenge / 8 year blog anniversary

10 October, 2021 | Investments | 26 seen

Here at ReinisFischer.com I love challenges, whether they are about blogging, learning new skills, or financial oriented.

As my blog is turning 8 years old on October 10, 2021, I decided to launch another interesting 365 days challenge - Investing with Covered Calls in Dow Inc. stock for one year.

Book my Covered Calls Course | How to Generate Income from Options

Dow Inc. is an American commodity chemical company. It was spun off DowDuPont on April 1, 2019, at which time it became a public company and was added to the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is headquartered in Midland, Michigan.

In case you re wondering what is a covered call:
The term covered call refers to a financial transaction in which the investor selling call options owns an equivalent amount of the underlying security. To execute this, an investor who holds a long position in an asset then writes (sells) call options on that same asset to generate an income stream. The investor's long position in the asset is the cover because it means the seller can deliver the shares if the buyer of the call option chooses to exercise.

My plan is to buy 100 shares with Dow inc stock and start selling weekly call options + collect the dividend. In fact, because of the dividend Dow Inc. looks like a stock I would like to hold for a long term in my stock portfolio. 

I hope I will manage to sell weekly options, but I understand that it could be quite unrealistic for the next 52 weeks in a row, so might be selling bi-weekly/ monthly / depending on the market condition. 

I'm looking to take about 25% gains in the next 365 days form this stock. Both stock appreciation, dividend income and options premium counts. As long as the Dow inc stock stays stable this seems attainable. The worst case scenario? To break even. 

To finance this purchase I'm using margin from my broker investing $5,850.

Think I could turn $5,850 into $7,312 in just one year? In case I will make at least $1,462 in the next 365 days I will re-inves this money into another quality dividend stock to sell covered calls on.

Subscribe to my newsletter about investing with covered calls to follow up this journey

Surami Fortress

7 October, 2021 | Military Heritage | 29 seen

Surami Fortress is located in the town of Surami, not far from Khashuri. The fortress itself is located on a rocky mountain.

If you have been traveling arund Georgia, especially by the Tbilisi - Kutaisi - Batumi road, you probably have noticed this fortress, as I do. Actually I've been passing by this place quite often, but bever actually visited. Now, I decided to change that, and when returining from Kutaisi made a quick stop here, to fly a drone around, and learn that Surami is quite an interesting little town. 

The fortress is an important work of historical, monumental art. Surami Castle is located at the crossroads of two main roads; One goes west through the Likhi Passes and the other goes south through the Borjomi Gorge.

Surami fortress is a complex, which includes a fence-fortress, St.George's Church, a tower and a palace. The castle had a tunnel that runs down to 12-16 meters, down, it is blocked. According to legend, the castle was connected to the Ascension's Church and the Suramula River, from where drinking water was brought to the prison.

It is historically unknown who and when constructed Surami Fortress "on top of a high rock". According to the 19th-century Georgian historian Platon Ioseliani, Surami and its fortress were built by King Parnavaz in the first half of the 2nd century, 200 BC. Among Georgian historical sources, only Platon Ioseliani gives such a different date of the construction of Surami Fortress.

According to Georgian historical sources, Surami Fortress as a strategic spot has been mentioned since 1625, when it was fortified by Giorgi Saakadze to defend himself from the Iranians.

In 1692, Surami Castle was in Turkish hands; After their banishment, during the interregnum, the Suram Fortress was the main stronghold for the fighters against Iran. In the uprising against the Iranians, in 1742-45, Surami Fortress became the main stronghold of Givi Amilakhvari, the head of the administrative division of Zemo Kartli. Because of the change of the political situation, the rebels found themselves in the camp of opponents of Teimuraz II and Erekle II, supported by Nadir-Shah. The kings, despite being backed by Iran, were unable to capture the fortress of Surami. Teimuraz's negotiations, Shah’s firman of forgiveness, throwing grenades to the prison, nothing worked.

The Shah was so astonished by this fact that he sent an artist to paint the castle. When the picture of the prison was brought, he ordered: enclose the castle by a fence to stop all movement and do not lift the siege until they beg you. Then the castle was secretly blown up twice and a large part of the wall was demolished. Even though the door was almost smashed in, Amilakhvar still did not give up and demanded the queen's arrival: he said h would only trust her. After the arrival of Queen Tamar, the kings were given an oath of safety. Amilakhvari was brought to the city and appointed at a high-ranking position. This fact demonstrates how strong the Suram Fortress was in the XVIII century. Nadir-Shah still did not fully trust Amilakhvar and by his order, the fortress of Suram was destroyed. But the Georgians soon rebuilt the Surami fortress, and in 1756 Erekle II captured here Tamaz, Mouravi of Kiziki. Surami Fortress was owned by Georgians until 1783. Then a Russian garrison was stationed here. In 1792, in Erekle II's "will", the Surami fortress is mentioned among the greatest fortresses of Georgia. According to 1801 sources, the castle still came in operation. In the 19th century, it gradually lost its importance along with other fortresses in Georgia.

Tsivi Lake in Tskaltubo

5 October, 2021 | Lakes | 37 seen

Tsivi lake is located in the town of Tskaltubo, region of Imereti, Georgia. A direct translation into English - The Cold lake. 

We discovered this place (more precisely we discovered the cafeteria located near the Tsivi lake) at the start of September 2021, during a weekend trip to Kutaisi and region.

The White Dune at Saulkrasti from a Drone Flight

1 October, 2021 | Tourism objects | 10 seen

The White Dune is one of the landmarks of Saulkrasti, on the Vidzeme gulf coast. The dune offers a splendid view of the sea, the mouth of the Inčupe River, and the vast beach.

Probably, best visited in Summer, we made a short visit here in February 2021

• A quick trip outside Jūrmala/Rīga to Saulkrasti
• Taken February February 21, 2021
• Music by Scott Holmes: Conclusion

Takhti-Tepha Mud Volcanoes in Georgia

30 September, 2021 | Tourism objects | 43 seen

Takhti-Tepha mud volcanoes, sometimes also referred to as Vashlovani mud volcanoes is a landform created by the eruption of mud, slurries, water, and gases in the proximity of Takhti-Tepha mountain range.

I had heard about this beautiful place many times before, but first visited at the start of June 2021, during the Vashlovani Trip

This mud volcano is located on the plane, south of Dali water reservoir, at 620 m above sea level in Dedoplistsqaro Municipality, Georgia, and incorporated in Vashlovani Protected Areas.

Mud craters, along with small open vents are constantly active, erupting mud, oil, and gas.

The length of the pedestrian path across the Takhti-Tepha Natural Monument is 0.5 km. The total area of the natural monument is 9.7 ha. The largest mud cater is 3,5-4 m in diameter. The landscape is built of sandstones and clays.

Definitely a very beautiful place to visit while in Georgia

Why I'm investing in DelfinGroup IPO

29 September, 2021 | Investments | 14 seen

DelfinGroup is a Latvian fintech company that offers accessible, simple, and consumer-focused finance and pawn services.

Starting September 28, 2021, there is an ongoing IPO for DelfinGroup on Nasdaq Baltic stock market. IPO will end on October 11. There is a small hype with this IPO in Latvia and seems after IPO will end, it will attract new first time investors to the Baltic stock exchange (Nasdaq Baltics).  Which is great, and hopefully more people will start to explore and invest in other listed companies as well.

This is not trading advice. Investments in stocks, funds, bonds, or cryptos are risk investments and you could lose some or all of your money. Do your due diligence before investing in any kind of asset.

It has been almost 4 years since the last IPO on the Riga stock exchange, back in 2017 Madara Cosmetics launched its IPO, back then I was a bit skeptical about that company, see: Why I'm not investing in Madara Cosmetics (MDRAUC)

As a strong investor in the Baltic region (Dividend-paying stocks and peer to peer lending) investment opportunities in DelfinGroup has been on my radar, probably since the Spring of 2021 when I first heard about upcoming IPO, planned for the Q4 of 2021. 

Once IPO was announced and I familiarized with the prospectus I had strong sentiment investing into DelfinGroup, mainly because:

So I placed and order to buy 200 shares at DelfinGroup IPO / Baltic Nasdaq.  As the said IPO price is EUR 1.52 per share. I'm investing here just some shy EUR 300. Play money! And yes, since the last IPO in Riga happened some 4 years ago when Madara Cosmetics went public, they have grown more than fourfold. Fun!

There are a few scenarios I'm looking at now - in case of the significant stock price increase after the IPO (which I doubt) - I will sell off all my shares and take nice profit. In case of a drop in price I will dollar  (euro) cost average more shares and collect dividend while holding the stock. 

Paravani lake

28 September, 2021 | Lakes | 67 seen

Paravani lake is a volcanic lake in Georgia, located in Javakheti Plateau between Abul-Samsari and Javakheti Ranges in the Samthske Javakheti region, some 2h 30 minutes drive (around 130 km) from Tbilisi.

In the shores of Paravani lake, there is located famous Phoka monastery

Paravani Lake is located 2,073 m (6,801 ft) above sea level and has a surface area of 37.5 km2 (14.5 sq mi) and a drainage basin of 234 km2 (90 sq mi).

Its maximum and average depths are 3.3 m (11 ft) and 2.2 m (7 ft 3 in) respectively. The volume of the lake is 91,000,000 m3 (3.2×109 cu ft). The water level is low during October and November and is high during May and June.

The lake is frozen during wintertime and the thickness of the ice ranges from 47 to 73 cm (19 to 29 in).

In addition to the small rivers of Shaori, Sabadostskali, and Rodionovskis Tskali, the lake gets its water from snow, rain, and underground springs. The river Paravani begins from the southern part of the lake, and connects to the Mtkvari to the right. The lake is a popular destination for fishing.

Fighting Webform Spam - Drupal 9 - AntiBot

27 September, 2021 | Drupal Development | 134 seen

Recently I migrated my personal blog (the one you are currently reading) from Drupal 7 - to Drupal 9.

The migration process actually still is in process, as I faced a few issues with the site, like lost coordinates with gmap module, some lost pictures here and there, etc.

For the contact form, I decided to re-create it using the webform module as I don't like the new default contact form (or I'm just too used to the webform). 

How To Add CAPTCHA Protection to Drupal 8 Webform

Soon I started to get a massive amount of webform spam, which I blocked using IP-block, but it started to really annoy, and I decided to fight back with some Drupal modules, so I found the AntiBot module, which seems could prevent some 90% of spam submissions as it works really simple but yet excellent - it asks for the JavaScript to be enabled

Antibot is an extremely lightweight module designed to eliminate robotic form submissions on your website in an innovative-fashion. The module works completely behind the scenes and doesn't require any interaction from the end-users (no annoying CAPTCHAs!). The only requirement to the end-user is that they must have JavaScript enabled. If they do not, the protected forms will be hidden and a message will appear, telling the user that the form requires JavaScript be enabled in order to use it.

How does it work?

• Admins choose which forms to enable protection for by specifying the form IDs.
• The protected form's action path is switched to /antibot.
• When the page is loaded, if the user does not have JavaScript enabled, the form is hidden and a message is presented to them.
• After the page is loaded, Antibot, using JavaScript, waits for a mouse to move, an enter or tab key to be pressed, or a mobile swipe gesture before the action of the form is switched back to the path that it was originally set to be. This indicates that the person behind the controls is a human and not a robot.
• Since the action of the form is purposely incorrect until the JavaScript changes it, bot submissions will be redirected and the form submissions completely disregarded.
• Since there is no dynamic code generated for each form, pages with Antibot can be cached safely.
• Antibot also generates a unique key value for each form (based on the ID) which is required in order for the form to pass validation. The JavaScript will automatically insert this value in to the form once it is unlocked. This prevents bots from remotely posting forms on your site because that key will be missing.

After downloading and installing this module it took me some 5 minutes to configure it and test by disabling javascript in Google Chrome Browser and finding the right form_id from the contact page

After refreshing the browser I saw the warning message

Now I hope it will prevent the future spam!

Hotel Newport Kutaisi Review

24 September, 2021 | Hotel reviews | 14 seen

Built in 1914, former courthouse building has transformed itself into a modern 4-star hotel, located in the heart of Kutaisi.

Featuring a bar and a terrace, Newport Hotel Kutaisi is located in Kutaisi, 400 m from Colchis Fountain and 1.5 km from Bagrati Cathedral.

We booked this 4-star hotel for one night stay at the start of September 2021 and paid GEL 267 (USD 85 / EUR 72). Our stay was quite good, except the rooms seemed bit tiny.  

Among the facilities of this property are a restaurant, a 24-hour front desk, and room service, along with free WiFi throughout the property. The hotel has newspapers and a fax machine and a photocopier that guests can use.

Turns out a few years ago I have stayed for night at the hotel next to this one, see: Hotel Edemi Review in Kutaisi, Georgia

Guest rooms are equipped with air conditioning, a flat-screen TV with satellite channels, a fridge, a kettle, a bidet, a hairdryer and a desk. Featuring a private bathroom with a shower and free toiletries, rooms at the hotel also offer a city view. All rooms include a wardrobe.

A buffet breakfast is available daily at Newport Hotel Kutaisi.

White Bridge is 1.9 km from the accommodation, while Gelati Monastery is 9 km away. The nearest airport is Kutaisi International, 21 km from Newport Hotel Kutaisi, and the property offers a paid airport shuttle service.

book now on Booking.com