How to Fix Missing MarkeClusterer Icons for Drupal Gmap Module

1 July, 2016 | Drupal Development | 5 seen

I have been using Drupal + Mapping for years already. My most favorite combination Location + Gmap module for entering and displaying location info. 

Recently I did upgrade for Gmap module for this blog and things went wrong - customized province names disappeared and... Marker Clusterer icons were gone soon afterwards. My first thoughts were that latest Gmap module have done something wrong, turned out I was wrong. My next idea was it's related to Advanced Aggregation module - again wrong.

Finally the problem as it seems is related to - https://www.drupal.org/node/2734133 - Google has moved its source to github.

The MarkerClusterer library not shows the cluster icons because it has moved to github as it described here.

As it was pointed out by user chrbak on Drupal.

Today I decided finally to get back Marker Clusterer, because without it - it just looks ugly and breaks things apart.

Broken Marker Clusterer icons

Above you can see my travel map, unfortunately marker cluster is broken. Let's fix this.

To do that download the library file (markerclusterer.js) and the images folder and put them to thirdparty folder of gmap module.

Now open markercluster.js file and edit following: (line 193)

to

Save your file, clear Drupal cache and you should be fine:

Working Marker Clusterer icons

Puente Nuevo (Ronda Bridge)

30 June, 2016 | Tourism objects | 24 seen

The Puente Nuevo (New Bridge) or as we called it - Ronda Bridge is the newest and largest of three bridges that span the 120-metre (390 ft)-deep chasm that carries the Guadalevín River and divides the city of Ronda, in southern Spain.

We had a chance to visit the Puente Nuevo at the start of June (temperature that day was about 40 Celsius), for me, as for an eager excelling photographer this was a nice place to put my knowledge in place.

Let's start with panoramic photography:

Puente Nuevo

The architect was José Martin de Aldehuela, who died in Málaga in 1802. The chief builder was Juan Antonio Díaz Machuca.

The bridge was started in 1751 and took 42 years to build. Fifty workers were killed during its construction. There is a chamber above the central arch that was used for a variety of purposes, including as a prison. 

Tourists gathering at Ronda Bridge

Above from the bridge you can get spectacular views. 

During the 1936-1939 civil war both sides allegedly used the prison as a torture chamber for captured opponents, killing some by throwing them from the windows to the rocks at the bottom of the El Tajo gorge. The chamber is entered through a square building that was once the guard-house. It now contains an exhibition describing the bridge's history and construction.

Puente Nuevo in HDR

It was a bright daylight, and probably I could get alone without a tripod (which I actually decided not to carry with me), but I noticed some tourist shooting from a tripod and asked could I borrow it for a few shots. The guy gave me his tripod and I made above HDR from it. Thank you - tripod guy near Ronda Bridge.

View from Puente Nuove bridge in Ronda

Siempre Igual Tapas Bar in Ronda

29 June, 2016 | Restaurant reviews | 12 seen

We visited Ronda, town in Spain' with one particular goal - to visit and photograph the bridge of Ronda. It was very hot day at start of June. We parked our car in a good distance from our destination and started to explore Ronda. One of our first stops were at Siempre Igual tapas bar.

It was already midday, a siesta has been started already so we opted for some tapas. 

Siempre Igual Tapas Bar in Ronda

Mussel tapas

For about 6 EUR, you can get such dish with mussels. Delicious. 

Tapas

Veggies and octopus... for following dish, price about EUR 1.5

Mini chorizo tapa

Price for above tapa - one euro. Amazing.

Once in Ronda, make sure you check out Siempre Igual Tapas bar.

Postcards from Spain

28 June, 2016 | | 7 seen

I wish I was writting down names of all those lovely places, we visited in Costa Del Sol in Spain, as I marked just the major spots. Today we were heading from Marbela, via Estepona towards Ronda, I made following pictures somewhere in the middle.

Pink boat

Costa Del Sol beach

White village in Spain

How to Renew Let's Encrypt SSL Certificate

27 June, 2016 | Servers | 7 seen

Free SSL certificates from Let's Encrypt certify are issued for a short 3 month term. I first enabled secure HTTPS pages around at start of 2016, and now it's time to renew SSL. 

The following tutorial is written for Nginx, but should work for Apache as well (with minor modifications)

Stop Nginx​

To trigger the renewal process for all installed domains, run this command:

Start Nginx
​
sudo service nginx start

Now, check from your browser window your site, does SSL certificate validity has been extended for next 90 days,

Summer Solstice 2016

26 June, 2016 | Home Remodeling | 4 seen

This is already third Summer Solstice featured on this blog, see how two years ago we made a barbeque on our Tbilisi's balcony and how we celebrated our first Summer Solstice in our newly inherited house, last year. This year we celebrated Summer Solstice second year in a row back in our rural house. 

I was pleased to apply my recently developed skills in night photography and experimented with long exposures, HDR and panoramic photography technique tonight.

Fire place

Made a lovely fireplace this year

Our fish pond

Maybe it is a good idea to great Summer Solstice near pond next year?

Our small company

Author of this blog is holding dog. Dog seemed most enthusiastic here, caught and ate a mole.

Summer Solstice 2016

Again, as started already last year - candles in the jar. Looks awesome, right? In total there are 20 candle/jars tonight.

Flower crown

Moonrise

Around 1:00 AM

Sunrise

At 4:14 AM

Estepona - Flower City in Costa del Sol (Spain)

25 June, 2016 | Tourism objects | 16 seen

Our this year's travels in Spain's Cos del Sol region, took us to lovely, I would even say charming flower city - Estepona. It's hard to recall, was it TomTom device what took us here or it was actually planned to make a stop here, but one I can say for sure - If you are planing a trip in Costa del Sol region - plan a trip to Estepona as well.

Streets of Estepona

Estepona is a town and municipality in the comarca of the Costa del Sol, southern Spain. It is located in the province of Málaga, part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. Its district covers an area of 137 square kilometers in a fertile valley crossed by small streams and a mountainous areas dominated by the Sierra Bermeja, which reaches an elevation of 1,449 m at the peak of Los Reales.

Flowers in streets of Estepona

Due to its natural environment, surrounded by the sea and the mountains, Estepona has a micro-climate with over 325 days of sunshine per year.

Cobbler streets and flowers

Estepona is a popular year-round holiday destination; it has two EC Blue Flag beaches, a modern sports marina with many tapasbars and restaurants. The white-walled town centre has many shops and picturesque squares. In the early 1990s, the Walt Disney Company chose Estepona as the original site for its Eurodisney project, but Paris, France was later awarded the installation.

Estepona

Estepona

Marbella (Playa de la Fontanilla)

24 June, 2016 | Tourism objects | 9 seen

Marbella is one of the most important tourist cities of the Costa del Sol (Spain) and throughout most of the year is an international tourist attraction, due mainly to its climate and tourist infrastructure. 

Last evening I watched an interesting documentary about Julio Iglesias, and in that movie it was told that world famous singer celebrated his wedding at Marbella. Luxury lifestyle, yachts and lovely climate? Probably. In fact during our week long travels in Spain, we made about an hour long stop in Marbela, sipped lovely coffee con-leche, and observed mist.

Our car were parked at local shopping center and most we saw in Marbella was about 200 meter radius from that.

Apartment houses in Marbella

Travel on the go is nice way to practice photography - in above image I used panoramic photography trick to extend my image.

Marbella is situated on the Mediterranean Sea, between Málaga and the Strait of Gibraltar, in the foothills of the Sierra Blanca. The municipality covers an area of 117 square kilometres (45 sq mi) crossed by highways on the coast, which are its main entrances.

Magnolia flower

The city is especially popular with tourists from Northern Europe (including the United Kingdom, Ireland and Germany) and also Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Marbella is particularly noted for the presence of aristocrats, celebrities and wealthy people; it is a popular destination for luxury yachts, and increasingly so for cruise ships, which dock in its harbour.

The area is popular with golfers and boaters, and there are many private estates and luxury hotels in the vicinity, including the Marbella Club Hotel. Marbella hosts a WTA tennis tournament on red clay, the Andalucia Tennis Experience.

Playa de la Fontanilla

As in most cities of the Andalusian coast, Marbella's economy revolves around tertiary activities. The service sector accounts for 60% of employment, while trade accounts for almost 20%. The main branches of the service sector are hospitality, real estate and business services, which fact underscores the importance of tourism in the Marbella economy. Meanwhile, the construction, industrial and agriculture sectors account for 14.2%, 3.8% and 2.4% of employment respectively.

Boulevard in Marbella

Drilling Borehole

23 June, 2016 | Home Remodeling | 3 seen

That day finally come - a massive vehicle with drilling device arrived and promised that after some 3-4 days - there will be a drinking water just from the soil in our background. We waited for this day for about a year. It was originally planned to have a water in the first year (2015), we started to manage this property. Lack of the finances stopped us.

Anyhow, this is what I told, when we started to manage this rural property: 

The house is in a very bad condition and asks for a lot of investments - one of the primary things we are looking to do next - is to change a roof (it is leaky), to dig the well, draw in water and to connect to the electricity.

It feels that about 90% of tasks from given are done. Now it is time to draw in water inside house and move to the next phase - like to construct a bathroom, sauna, kitchen and so on. 

So why bore hole, instead of a well? Simple it costs about the same, with bore hole making it more sure that water actually will be there. Simple geological check up on ground layers, and drillers promised there will be water somewhere between 40-80 meters. In result turned out to be in 65 meters.

Installing bore hole drill

Unfortunately I was not able to watch and document drilling process for next 4 days, as on the day when drillers started they work, we were of for a week long trip to Spain. Luckly when we arrived back - everything was done already, we got water, our very own first water from the ground. Exciting.

A borehole is a narrow shaft bored in the ground, either vertically or horizontally. A borehole may be constructed for many different purposes, including the extraction of water, other liquids (such as petroleum) or gases (such as natural gas), as part of a geotechnical investigation, environmental site assessment, mineral exploration, temperature measurement, as a pilot hole for installing piers or underground utilities, for geothermal installations, or for underground storage of unwanted substances, e.g. in Carbon capture and storage.

Lifting water from the borehole scheme

Now, it is time to actually draw water inside house, but that's for another story.

Playamar beach in Torremolinos

22 June, 2016 | Tourism objects | 17 seen

Playamar beach was located close to our hotel (Parasol Garden) in Torremolinos. I had a chance to vist this beach (thus no swimming or sunbathing) during a week long travels in Spain.

This beach is characterized by the numerous apartment buildings lining the beachfront. It offers a wide variety of facilities and is very well marked with buoys. A variety of shows and performances are organised here during the summer.

Playamar beach

Whether you are coming direct from the airport or from any other point on the Costa del Sol, the signs for Torremolinos will not let you go wrong. The Mediterranean Expressway and the old N-340, which has now become a boulevard passing through the middle of the city, are this tourist centre’s access routes.

Playamar beach

You can rent a sun bed here for about EUR 3, per day.

Swimming area in Playamar beach

Hotel Parasol Garden Review in Torremolinos, Spain

21 June, 2016 | Hotel reviews | 12 seen

Hotel Parasol Garden in Torremolinos was first hotel we booked during our week long trip in our Costa la Sol trip in Spain. After we landed at Malaga airport and picked up our rental car at Malaga airport we headed to nearby located beach resort town of Torremolinos. 

The hotel offered full board or all inclusive. We booked full board, as it was for about 15 EUR cheaper than all inclusive. Latter we learnt that Full board means all meals, except drinks, including still water during breakfast, dinner and supper. Luckily we got a cup of coffee next morning. 

Hotel Parasol Garden

Parasol Garden is just 51 m from Playamar Beach, in Torremolinos. It offers a free Wi-Fi zone, an outdoor jacuzzi and swimming pools and air conditioned rooms with a private balcony.The Parasol Garden’s bright rooms overlook the swimming pool, sea or mountains. Each room has tiled floors and wooden furniture. All are equipped with satellite TV. 

Speaking of so calleds satellite TV - in our case it was some extra mini TV set just bellow ceilings. 

Bedroom

Nothing fancy here - simple twin room with a few decades old interior. 

Restaurant at Hotel Parasol Garden

Full board, take anything you want, except no drinks, not even a drinking water.

Bathroom at Hotel Parasol Garden

Thus you can enjoy your drinks at your room. Bathroom's sink is one of the best way to get your drinks cold.

The Bottom Line

Pretty average and old hotel. The hotel had a free parking space, the WiFi internet thus wasn't available in our room. For price we paid (about EUR 80) - could be better. On the other hand it has it's own access to the beach which is indeed located just some 50 meters from hotel. Mostly seniors from Germany are visiting this hotel. Thus I met many nationalities and all generations.

Book on Booking.com

Holiday Inn Berlin Airport Hotel Review in Schönefeld, Germany

20 June, 2016 | Hotel reviews | 9 seen

We stayed at Holiday Inn Berlin airport hotel between connecting flight to Spain. At start we didn't planned to stay at hotel at all or to use some cheap hostel in Berlin city center, but after actually landing here in Berlin and visiting Berlin city center, we agreed a hotel is a must have. I was surprised to learn that hotels are way much expensive in Berlin than it is usually,

This was one of the rare hotels we reached by foot, after arriving at local train station (located close to the airport) we decided to walk there,  Unfortunately we had no idea which direction we should walk and I asked to the first passer by - Excuse me, do you have any idea which direction is located hotel Holiday Inn? The person replied to me - kein englisch, I asked  - Unterkunfte Holiday Inn? - The person replied again - Kein Englisch. We continued our way in the same direction making a fun of "Kein Englisch" phrase, 

Luckily we were on the right track and soon we found Holiday Inn Airport Hotel, We had booked a room here during day, and as I said in introduction I was surprised to learn that a hotel room here costs EUR 100, 

Bedroom

Flughafen Schönefeld S-Bahn Train Station is less than 1 km away from the Holiday Inn. The RE7 and RB14 regional train lines run to Alexanderplatz Square in 20 minutes, and the RB19 regional train offers direct connections to Südkreuz, Hauptbahnhof (Berlin Main Station), Gesundbrunnen and Potsdamer Platz in just 28 minutes.

Flat screen TV

Spacious, soundproofed rooms with flat-screen TV and a top-floor spa are available here.

View to airport

One of the free perks at this hotel a free shuttle bus to the aiport. We left this hotel early aroun 5:00 AM and our shuttle bus was arranged,

The Bottom Line

It's a decent hotel for a high price. If i had more time to plan, I would search for cheaper and better located hotel in Berlin. But if you are here just for one night - might be an ideal choice.

Book on Booking.com

Berlin TV Tower (Fernsehturm)

19 June, 2016 | Tourism objects | 14 seen

Berlin TV tower is located close to the Alexanderplatz in Berlin, Germany. 

The tower was constructed between 1965 and 1969 by the administration of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). It was intended as a symbol of Berlin, which it remains today, as it is easily visible throughout the central and some suburban districts of Berlin. With its height of 368 meters, it is the tallest structure in Germany, and the second tallest structure in the European Union (by a half-metre).

I was wondering around Alexanderplatx when noticed this giantic structure. I wasn't prepared good enough to capture this mega-tall structure in one frame, and felt a little bit tired to try harder, made just one panaoramic photo.

Berlin TV tower

The tower has become one of the most prominent symbols of the country and is often in the establishing shot of films set in Berlin. Due to its location near Alexanderplatz, it is occasionally called Alex Tower.

The original total height of the tower was 365 metres (1,198 ft), but it rose to 368 metres (1,207 ft) after the installation of a new antenna in 1997.The Fernsehturm is the fourth tallest freestanding structure in Europe, after Moscow's Ostankino Tower, the Kiev TV Tower and the Riga Radio and TV Tower. The sphere is a visitor platform and a revolving restaurant in the middle of the sphere. The visitor platform, also called panoramic floor, is at a height of about 203 metres (666 ft) above the ground and visibility can reach 42 kilometres (26 mi) on a clear day. The restaurant Telecafé, which rotates once every 30 minutes, is a few metres above the visitors platform at 207 metres (679 ft). When first constructed, it turned once per hour; the speed was later doubled following the tower's 1997 renovation. Inside the shaft, two lifts shuttle visitors to the sphere of the tower within 40 seconds. A Stairway with 986 steps also provides access, however it is not accessible by wheelchair.

Alexanderplatz

18 June, 2016 | Tourism objects | 11 seen

Alexanderplatz most probably is Berlin's most famous tourist spot. Alexanderplatz is a large public square and transport hub in the central Mitte district of Berlin, near the Fernsehturm. Berliners often call it simply Alex, referring to a larger neighborhood stretching from Mollstraße in the northeast to Spandauer Straße and the Rotes Rathaus in the southwest.

I had a chance to visit Alexanderplatz during a layover between flights to Malaga, Spain. We took a local train from airport and visited Alexanderplatz to spend few hours before checking in at hotel near airport latter this evening.

Metro Alexanderplatz

One of the easiest and cheapest ways to get there is by using local metro (S-Bahn). Alexanderplatz is also the name of the S-Bahn and U-Bahn stations there. It is one of Berlin's largest and most important transportation hubs, being a cross of 3 subway (U-Bahn) lines, 3 S-Bahn lines, and many tram and bus lines, as well as regional trains.

Tourists at Alexanderpltatz

Alexanderplatz is also a popular shopping destination in Berlin

Postcards from Berlin

A popular car in Democratic Republic of Germany - Trabant.

Alexanderplatz

Originally a cattle market outside the city fortifications, it was named in honor of a visit of theRussian Emperor Alexander I to Berlin on 25 October 1805 by order of King Frederick William III of Prussia. The square gained a prominent role in the late 19th century with the construction of the Stadtbahn station of the same name and a nearby market hall, followed by the opening of a department store of Hermann Tietz in 1904, becoming a major commercial centre. The U-Bahn station of the present-day U2 line opened on 1 July 1913.

Alexanderplatz

​Alexanderplatz has been subject to redevelopment several times in its history, most recently during the 1960s, when it was turned into a pedestrian zone and enlarged as part of the German Democratic Republic's redevelopment of the city centre. It is surrounded by several notable structures including the Fernsehturm (TV Tower), the second tallest structure in the European Union.

At Alexanderplatz

Since German reunification, Alexanderplatz has undergone a gradual process of change with many of the surrounding buildings being renovated. Despite the reconstruction of the tram line crossing, it has retained its socialist character, including the much-graffitied"Fountain of Friendship between Peoples" (Brunnen der Völkerfreundschaft), a popular venue.

The Press Cafe building (left)

The mural displaying the Marxist view of the press has been covered over by commercial advertising.

Many historic buildings are located in the vicinity of Alexanderplatz. The traditional seat of city government, the Rotes Rathaus, or Red City Hall, is located nearby, as was the former East German parliament building, the Palast der Republik, demolition of which began in February 2006 and has been completed. The reconstruction of the Baroque Stadtschloss near Alexanderplatz has been in planning for several years

How to Photograph the Big Dipper

17 June, 2016 | Digital Photography School | 42 seen

Have you ever wanted to photograph the Big Dipper? It is on of the easiest and probably the most famous grouping of stars in the sky.

Fail short using auto mode on your camera? I hear you - I was there buddy. Once I was laying in warm beaches in Turkey (around Izmir) it was night already, the view around me was just amazing, city lights, sea and stars... I spent all night stargazing and trying to photograph at least something using my camera... well... I ended up with nothing. Back then I had little clue of other shooting modes than auto.  Auto mode is not your best friend during night time.

In today's digital photography school tutorial I would love to start a new series of posts in astrophotography. The other day I spent couple of hours in dark night trying to shoot my first star trails. Thus, the result is far from ideal - I understood, star photography is damn interesting. 

Let's start with The Big Dipper photography:

The Big Dipper

Shot in my backyard on May 31, 2016. Shooting settings:18mm (kit lens) f4,5/ ISO 800, 10 seconds. Post processed in Adobe Lightroom.

Now, when shooting during nighttime a tripod is a must have, as it involves longer exposures and it's just not possible to avoid handshake during those longer exposures. A sturdy tripod is a must have. 

You can experiment with ISO settings by lowering it or raising up. Shoot in RAW mode, as it will give you more details later when post processing your image. 

In clear sky it's easy to capture The Big Dipper.

The Big Dipper is an asterism (not a constellation) of 7 stars, with four defining a "bowl" or "body" and three defining a "handle" or "head", that is recognized as a distinct grouping in many cultures. These stars are the brightest of the formal constellation Ursa Major; six of them are second magnitude stars, while only Megrez (δ) is of third magnitude. The North Star (Polaris), the current northern pole star and the tip of the handle of the Little Dipper, can be located by extending an imaginary line from Merak (β) through Dubhe (α). This makes it useful in celestial navigation.

The Big Dipper Photography

To make the Big Dipper photography more appealing to eye, include some interesting foreground (a tree, rock, water, desert and so on). In above picture I have captured the Big Dipper in pretty boring way - blue sky and a part of a tree (upper right corner). Included foreground can be easy light painted with a flash light thus supercharging your night photography. 

What do you think of the Big Dipper photography? Have you tried, share your thoughts in comments bellow!