Friday, May 15, 2020

TWID May 16, 2020: random potpourri of things

This is a post detailing some stuff I did, learned, posted and tweeted this week, I call this TWID (This week in Denis). I am doing this mostly for myself... a kind of an online journal so that I can look back on this later on. Will use the label TWID for these

In last week's post I mentioned that the pepper and tomato plants were ready to be planted outside. This was done yesterday and the plants are outside now

In front of the house we have put them in pots


In the back of the house we have transferred the plants to a raised bed




It is over 80 degrees today, hopefully the plants will love this weather and grow big

For Mothers day... we didn't do much because we are still under lockdown.. my oldest son made this crumb cake.. it was delicious




This Week I Tweeted


US video game sales have record quarter, as consumers stay at home 

New numbers from NPD confirm what we’ve known for a while: The first quarter of 2020 was a very good one for gaming companies. The new report notes that sales hit a record $10.86 billion in the States between January and March of this year, marking a 9% increase over a year prior; $9.58 billion of that figure was from video game content.

The primary driver is, you guessed it, COVID-19. As stay at home orders have been enacted on the federal and state levels, people are coping with the ongoing daily horror that is life in 2020 by playing video games. Lots and lots of video games.


Some cool stuff you might enjoy


The Rijksmuseum is today publishing the largest and most detailed ever photograph of The Night Watch

Most detailed ever photograph of The Night Watch goes online  

The Rijksmuseum is today publishing the largest and most detailed ever photograph of The Night Watch on its website, making it possible to zoom in on individual brushstrokes and even particles of pigment in the painting. Work on Operation Night Watch will resume on Wednesday 13 May in the glass chamber in the museum.

I have seen this painting many times, the reason is because I grew up in Amsterdam and my neighbor worked for the Rijksmuseum. I always got complementary tickets. The interesting part is that I have been to the Rijksmuseum more times when moving to the US than I did when I lived in Amsterdam  :-(

This does looks pretty cool,  you can just keep zooming. Direct link  http://hyper-resolution.org/Nightwatch



Why millennials have fallen in love with stamp collecting

Covid has increased the number of people getting interested in stamp collecting. Here are 3 articles I happen to see in the past couple of weeks

Hyperinflation stamps Weimar Germany


Post modern: why millennials have fallen in love with stamp collecting

Philately is gaining popularity with younger hobbyists, who are drawn to its vintage - and Instagram - appeal

It was once a byword for boring, but it seems stamp collecting is finding a new – young – audience, despite the fact that some hobbyists have never actually posted a letter.

Philately is gaining popularity among millennials, many of whom see the creative pursuit as an escape from their screen-based lives, says 37-year-old Suzanne Rae, from North Yorkshire.

“Philately is tangible: it’s relaxing and unplugged. It’s also very Instagrammable,” says Rae, who is only the second female chairman the Philatelic Traders Society has had in its 91-year history. “Twitter and Instagram enable young collectors to find people like them, and see that it’s not only a geeky old man’s pursuit.”

Covid-19 Virus Affect On The Stamp Market

The strong reaction of the US Government to the Covid pandemic has resulted in the self-isolation and self-quarantining of millions of Americans as well as people worldwide. While this is having a devastating effect on the economy, it has been a real boost to the stamp market. Stamp collectors around the world suddenly have many hours of time to fill since they can't go out, go to work or watch sporting events. Hence, they spend time buying stamps. The dealers I spoke with all report a surge in orders, many from customers they have never had before.

COVID-19 a shot in the arm for stamp collecting

Well, if you’d asked me a few months back what was needed to give stamp collecting a kick up the backside, my first answer would probably not have been “a global supervirus pandemic.”

But it sure feels like that’s what has happened. The enforced worldwide recreation break has existing collectors burying their heads into their albums, lapsed collectors dusting cobwebs off old shoeboxes, and curious novices taking their first tentative steps into a mysterious world.

New philatelic blogs and Instagram feeds are starting up, and online viewers are devouring YouTube clips. Philatelic magazines have even been offering free access to an edition or two.

Even the mainstream media have noticed. Stamp dealers report rising sales. Kids are writing letters. Even before the COVID-19 crisis kicked in, both the BBC and the Observer were reporting the growing popularity of stamp collecting among younger collectors.


Bavaria Ring Cancellations

Some Progress

Books finished so far/in progress

In progress


Done with these


Book Completed
Stealth War: How China Took Over While America's Elite Slept 01/04
Sandworm: A New Era of Cyberwar and the Hunt for the Kremlin's Most Dangerous Hackers 01/25
Alexander Hamilton 02/12
The Quick Python Book, 3rd Edition 02/13
The Gene: An intimate history 02/17
Moonwalking with Einstein 02/27
The Somme 02/25
The Art of Learning 02/16
Ready to Run: Unlocking Your Potential to Run Naturally 03/08
The Tudors, a very short introduction 03/17
South: The Illustrated Story of Shackleton's Last Expedition 1914-1917  03/18
The Body: A Guide for Occupants 03/30
The Great Sea: A Human History of the Mediterranean 04/07
Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything 04/11
Lifespan: Why We Age – and Why We Don’t Have To 04/27
The Stand 04/30
Fellowship of the ring 05/07
The Two Towers 05/15


Books in the queue
These are next... in no specific order

Books to get
Here are the books I plan to get. These were either mentioned on more than one podcast, recommended by friends, or are new books from authors I like, for example Eric Larson's latest book about Churchill and the Blitz





Running progress
My goal is to run 800 miles this year, this means about 4 runs of about 4 miles per week

Miles        Percentage
296.81 37.10%

So far that burned a bit under 45,600 calories


Saturday, May 9, 2020

TWID May 9, 2020: Books and Plants

This is a post detailing some stuff I did, learned, posted and tweeted this week, I call this TWID (This week in Denis). I am doing this mostly for myself... a kind of an online journal so that I can look back on this later on. Will use the label TWID for these


It has been a while since I posted here.. but I decided to bring back the TWID posts again

I have been reading a lot lately, since I am already home for 60 days, I decided to read some of the big books I own or re-read them.  I already finished the Stand, almost done with Gotham and I am 35% done with the Lord of The Rings book.

I read 10 pages per day of the Gotham book and then I usually have a book I read at home and one while I commute. Since I am home now, I read the commuting book in the morning

Here is a pic of the books I owe but never read (except for the Lord Of the Rings book)

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At the end of this post, you can see all the books I finished, what I am reading now and also what is in my backlog/queue to read.


Here you can see some of the seeds my son and I purchased


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That's right.. the second one from the left in the top is a ghost chile... not sure yet what I will do with those.  Maybe make pepper spray or some extremely hot sauce   :-)

This is what the plants looked like a couple of weeks ago

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This is what it looks like today


As you can see they are ready to be planted outside. It still cold at night but after Wednesday May 12th, these should be fine to be transplanted


Here you can see what the plants look like 2-3 weeks ago with a fan blowing on them


The reason you use a fan inside is to strengthen the the plants, this way they don't break when you put them outside and it is a little windy on the first day


This Week I Tweeted


As a result, crude was actually trading at a negative $3.70 a barrel when Shah’s screen had it at 1 cent; the reason: Interactive Brokers never displayed a subzero price to him as oil kept diving to end the day at minus $37.63 a barrel.
At midnight, Shah some very bad news: he owed Interactive Brokers $9 million. He’d started the day with $77,000 in his account, expecting that his biggest possible loss was 100%, or $77,000.

Ouch that is so bad, who knew oil could go negative....


Can't quit Excel

This happened to me.. pasted a lot of data into Excel on a VM and then tried to cancel it and quit.... nope.  So I just used task manager to kill it

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Some cool stuff you might enjoy


You know about waitfor delay but did you know there is a waitfor time?

You may or may not know that WAITFOR has TIME in addition to DELAY

When I sold kinderzegels as part of school (semipostal stamps that benefit child welfare)

Mindmap Diagram Codes

This is pretty cool, you can create a mindmap, code on left.. output on the right, you can share it as well

Looks like this


Some Progress

Books finished so far/in progress

In progress

The Two Towers 21% done


Done with these


Book Completed
Stealth War: How China Took Over While America's Elite Slept 01/04
Sandworm: A New Era of Cyberwar and the Hunt for the Kremlin's Most Dangerous Hackers 01/25
Alexander Hamilton 02/12
The Quick Python Book, 3rd Edition 02/13
The Gene: An intimate history 02/17
Moonwalking with Einstein 02/27
The Somme 02/25
The Art of Learning 02/16
Ready to Run: Unlocking Your Potential to Run Naturally 03/08
The Tudors, a very short introduction 03/17
South: The Illustrated Story of Shackleton's Last Expedition 1914-1917  03/18
The Body: A Guide for Occupants 03/30
The Great Sea: A Human History of the Mediterranean 04/07
Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything 04/11
Lifespan: Why We Age – and Why We Don’t Have To 04/27
The Stand 04/30
Fellowship of the ring 05/07


Books in the queue
These are next... in no specific order

Books to get
Here are the books I plan to get. These were either mentioned on more than one podcast, recommended by friends or are new books from authors I like, for example Eric Larson's latest book about Churchill and the Blitz






Running progress
My goal is to run 800 miles this year, this means about 4 runs of about 4 miles per week

Miles        Percentage
279.57 34.95%

So far that burned a bit under 43 thousand calories




Interesting quote....heard it on a podcast... don't remember which one  .. sorry  :-(

A fool never learns
A smart man learns from his mistakes
A wise man learns from the mistakes of others