Category Archives: Info Links

Dr. Seheult Coronavirus Updates

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Very informative series of videos. All of them dealing with Covid-19 to date, Dr. Seheult releases these update videos regularly. He is actively treating Covid-19 patients, from what I remember he is an internist and with pulmonary and sleep specialties. Below is a sampling of the videos that I found interesting, mostly centered on prevention and treatment. Covering new approaches such as Remdesivir and Choloquine. Supplements are also covered for general health and use for helping the bodies immune system. Plus some general information on how viruses work, which I had long forgotten about over the years. Some of the ideas in the videos are fairly unique, such as the importance of sleep for boosting the immune system and the positive effects of forest bathing.

UPDATE: There has been some censorship of Coronavirus videos on YouTube created by Dr. Seheult which thankfully are still all available on MedCram

 

Linux Mail From the Command Line

Local Mail Using Postfix and Mail

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Mail on the command line. This was once a thing that was used much more often. When I was in college in the 1990’s it was one of the easiest ways to get mail when on campus and off. It was taught to technical and non-technical people alike as part of orientation and you were given written instructions right at registration time. Instructions came along with the email account that they made up for you using a student id number followed by @binghamton.edu. In fact, finally in the last year I was there they got rid of this cumbersome email and started allowing users to have email with their real names.

Getting to mail back then from the command line involved logging into your Unix account from one of the many terminals spread throughout the campus. Or using the  insecure but, OK at the time rlogin, remotely via dialup. Then you could either use mail or pine which was a bit more sophisticated as it was based off the pico editor, of which the popular nano editor is a derivative. It at least has somewhat of an interface that accepts up and down arrow movement and displays the shortcuts on the bottom. The standard mail program is a bit like vi, spartan but still useful.

Having access to mail locally on the command line is useful when you might be running CRON tasks or any other automated scripts that call other code as it allows you to get notified of when they have run and most importantly if they have had errors.

The other alternative is to set up ssmtp and have mail sent out of the local machine using SMTP from another established account. Of course you can also set up a full blown mail server but, that can be overkill if you are just monitoring what is happening on a few machines that you regularly log in to.

Setting up Local Mail

Below is a great Github post on how to set up local mail on a Linux Machine. I followed it and added a variation to get local mail running using the command line mail program.

It works great.  I really liked the instructions, very easy to set up. I was glad I found this as, I thought it might be tricky and with these instructions it was a few minutes on each machine.

Setup a Local Only SMTP Email Server (Linux, Unix, Mac)

 

My Additions

Server

For use with mail the program, it might not be necessary to have a local host.com in the host file. I have not tested this.

I followed the tutorial up to and including the step of restarting postfix.

Then I installed mail instead of Thunderbird.

On the server, which only has a CLI,  I wound up using mail instead of T-bird, installed via sudo apt-get install mailutils
It can be tested by sending a message to yourself by using…
mail -s “test” (your user name)@localhost

Hit enter when in the screen to bypass CC , type something and end by using Ctrl D.

Then enter the command

mail

…and you should see the email. Hit enter at the? prompt and the message is presented.

Enter q to quit.

Another test message can be sent to test if a message to any address gets sent to you. As long as the domain is local host it will work and catch it. Other domains will fall and send you an email from the system reporting the email as undeliverable.
It works great to get the CRON messages on the machine.
Just type mail and you get a CLI email list. mail basics are, q to quit, m to compose, enter and spacebar to move through messages. Entering question mark ?, brings up command help.

Desktop Install

One gotcha that caught me is that I already had T-bird installed and therefore it had a default SMTP server already. For me this required what I would call step 6A to add a local STMP server.
6A. In the pane above “Account Actions” scroll, using the bar to the bottom “Outgoing Server (SMTP)”.
Click Add
For description I wrote Local SMTP
Server Name: localhost
Port: 25
Username : (the user name)@localhost
Authentication Method: Password, transmitted insecurely
Connection Security: None

Then I went back into the account settings for the mail set up in step 6 and set the Outgoing Server (SMTP) to the Local SMTP

Host File Aliases

Also in /etc/hosts you can put in localhost.com as a alias and it works fine, like this…
127.0.0.1       localhost localhost.com

This is the way to put in aliases in a host file, for example you can have the machine name and then a shortcut to it if you have it set to a static IP. This way you can just type server to SSH to it and use that as a short name wherever you want to in scripts and etc.

192.168.1.10  Dell-Optiplex-620     server

127.0.0.1 localhost localhost.com

 

 

Bull market 2009 to 2020

Trading Resources Books

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Speculation in stocks will never disappear. It isn’t desirable that it should. It cannot be checked by warnings as to its dangers. You cannot prevent people from guessing wrong no matter how able or how experienced they may be. Carefully laid plans will miscarry because the unexpected and even the unexpectable will happen. Disaster may come from a convulsion of nature or from the weather, from your own greed or from some man’s vanity; from fear or from uncontrolled hope. – Reminiscences of a Stock Operator


This post is a trading resource dump on books for trading 

I have some good books in the list. The ones that cover the psychological aspects of trading are worth the time to read if you have gotten past the basics of trading. It helps if you have traded a little at least to have some hands on experience with it. Best to start out with a few hundred dollars and build up the account as you get the hang of trading. Adding to the account slowly. I wish I had read these books  in the beginning, just when I was trying the first half dozen trades, at the same time that I was learning about the technical aspects of trading.

 

Subject: Road less traveled M. Scott Peck

https://www.apnamba.com/Ebooks-pdf/The%20Road%20Less%20Traveled.pdf

The first section on discipline is a good read for the psychology of trading. Think discipline in terms of trading.

Subject: Technical Analysis (TA) of financial markets John Murphy

Classic TA book. This along with Perry J. Kaufman’s book New Trading Systems and Methods will be good references for the nuts and bolts of trading.

http://194.145.209.129/bk/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/download.php?file=Technical-Analysis-of-the-Financial-Markets-8freebooks.net_.pdf

Subject: Another TA Book, Open Source

This book is a good reference book. It compiles a lot of information that is in the public domain, mostly via Wikipedia in one place. At the end of each chapter there are good notes, references and further reading. It is good to have this on hand when you want to look something up quick or for beginners to get an overview of technical analysis.

http://www.mrao.cam.ac.uk/~mph/Technical_Analysis.pdf

In the Markets: Confessions of a Samurai Trader Edward Alan Toppel

Worth a read, especially for anyone that has been exposed to Asian culture. It still makes sense if you’re not familiar with the culture but, if you are it’s going to be a deeper read.

Confessions of a Samurai Trader Ebook https://www.forexfactory.com/attachment.php/2566801?attachmentid=2566801&d=1510983772

Trading for a living by Elder Alexander

Very good, Elder Alexander is a Psychologist turned trader. He is also the inventor of the Triple Screen Trading System, which is outlined in the book.

This is in download PDF http://www.saham-indonesia.com/Ebooks/Technical%20Analysis/Elder%20Alexander%20-%20Trading%20For%20A%20Living.pdf

 Reminiscences of a Stock Operator Book by Edwin Lefèvre Zen

There is nothing like losing all you have in the world for teaching you what not to do. And when you know what not to do in order not to lose money, you begin to learn what to do in order to win. Did you get that? You begin to learn!

Very good, a must read! This book is supposedly handed out to new employees at Goldman Sachs to read as a first assignment. I can see why, it really is an eyeopener. It is a book I wished that I had read right in the beginning of starting to consider trading myself.

https://ia803009.us.archive.org/4/items/JesseLivermoreReminiscencesOfAStockOperator/Jesse%20Livermore%20Reminiscences%20Of%20A%20Stock%20Operator.pdf

General Economics and Investing

While not necessarily for trading, it’s helpful to have a broad selection of different types of knowledge in your latticework of the mind as Charlie Munger calls it. In case you didn’t know, Charlie Munger is Warren Buffet’s right hand man at Berkshire Hathaway.

Investing , the last liberal art by Robert G. Hagstrom

This table of contents is what got my attention with this book. I was a bit caught of guard at first with the topics and the connection they might make to investing. But, a short skim confirmed the author was right on target with all of the topics covered.

Table of Contents: Investing: The last Liberal Art
Table of Contents: Investing: The last Liberal Art

I didnInvesting, the last liberal art’t know what to think of this book when I first saw it. But, it’s different from most investing books in a good way. It’s more about building a mindset, a latticework in your mind to pull from to better think about investing. Clearly, knowing other subjects beyond economics and finance are helpful to have a background of general knowledge to be able to pull ideas from. For me, I agree as this has been my own experience. This book went from one that I was skeptical about to a favorite after a few chapters.Initially the chapter titles caught my attention, as they were unlike any ones that I have seen in other investing books.

 

Principles of Economics by Alfred Marshall

Originally from 1890, it’s a classic. It’s still used in some college curriculums today. This book can provide a background on economics. With trading, you need to be able to understand the view from above as well. Understanding how economics works provides a high altitude view from far above the landscape of fundamentals and technical analysis. It’s important to a least have some understanding of the bigger picture, a macro view of economics from the beginning when you trade.

This is the 8th edition of what is regarded to be the first “modern” economics textbook, leading in various editions from the 19th into the 20th century. The final 8th edition was Marshall’s most-used and most-cited.

http://files.libertyfund.org/files/1676/Marshall_0197_EBk_v6.0.pdf

Crypto Compares Big Gains Q1 2019

Trading Resource Videos

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There are many thousands of people who buy and sell stocks speculatively but the number of those who speculate profitably is small. As the public always is “in” the market to some extent, it follows that there are losses by the public all the time. The speculator’s deadly enemies are: Ignorance, greed, fear and hope. All the statute books in the world and all the rules of all the Exchanges on earth cannot eliminate these from the human animal. Accidents which knock carefully conceived plans skyhigh also are beyond regulation by bodies of coldblooded economists or warm-hearted philanthropists.– Reminiscences of a Stock Operator

 

Trading Resource Videos

The following post contains video resources. Some of this material especially the material from Francis Hunt and David Paul on the psychology and mindset of trading is quite important. It is best to learn about the psychology and mindset of trading while learning other typical trading topics such as technical analysis and fundamentals. It is just as important in the long run and having discipline and the right mindset goes a long way to preventing losses and maximizing gains over the long haul.

Channels

Josh Olszewicz: Crypto + Technical Analysis, Building your trading toolbelt

Josh Olszewicz produces market updates on a regular basis cover BTC and ETH primarily. Plenty to learn from and in my opinion, reliable insights.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC587BAG9cLTYtJ7Q4CqcOnw

Francis Hunt: The Crypto Sniper

Francis Hunt produces periodic crypto market updates and actually trades in legacy markets as well and provides useful insights from both realms and also currencies plus gold and silver.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdC4a2KquFV1F4O21mW3K7g

Aswath Damodaran: Fundamentals and Value Investing in Stocks.

He is a professor, so get ready to study. Many videos on his channel. A few updates here and there but , most of it is in depth college level training on topics such as valuation and analyzing the fundamentals of companies. Good information for a background on the stock market. Plenty of videos to pick and choose from as you want to dive into a specific topic.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLvnJL8htRR1T9cbSccaoVw

 

UKspreadbetting

Basics. Well done videos, most of them nice and short and covering specific topics. Everything that applies to spreadbetting can be applied to trading as well so don’t let the name fool you.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnKPQUoCRb1Vu-qWwWituGQ

Trading 212

Basics. Watched a few videos off of this channel a bit of overlap with UKspreadbetting but short concise videos. Worth looking at.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfWQuGYMfhZk9qq5x00sb9w

Series Worth Watching

Francis Hunt Interview Series on UK Spread Betting

Especially these two in the series are very important…
Trading Secrets of the Mind Master the Emotional Side of Trading
Improving the Mindset Game in our Trading

David Paul on UK Spread Betting

More David Paul Videos

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGglyvc8d58&list=WL&index=113&t=0s

Subject: David Paul Tips from video

Asset above 89 day MA. Market above 21 day MA And rising , will get hit rate to 80 Probability matrix Pattern to finesse entry . 1-2 pct at risk per trade. Plan and repeated perfect execution. Build neural pathways after 8-30 trades…….. William O’Neil How to make money in stocks……from The Psychology of trading and investing

Audio book: Trading For a Living, Psychology,Trading Tactics, Money Management

 

Jim Simons

Not trading information specifically but, he is a legend. Mathematician, code breaker  turned trading genius. He co-founded Renaissance Technologies in East Setauket, New York, a town away from where I grew up. Renaissance Technologies, Ren Tech, makes huge yearly gains in it’s Medallion Fund. The company does a lot of quant work and hires PhD scientists, mathematicians and etc. Working for this company would be amazing to say the least. So much to learn there working with the talented people he has helped to pick and shape over the years.

Renaissance’s flagship Medallion fund, which is run mostly for fund employees,[8] is famed for the best track record on Wall Street, returning more than 66 percent annualized before fees and 39 percent after fees over a 30-year span from 1988 to 2018.[9][10]

New York and Pennsylvania Heavy Rain and Flood Events July and August 2018

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In July and August 2018 the area that I live went from quite dry to drenched in a matter of weeks. It was a close call for me, many folks in the surrounding areas were affected by the floods. A few people that  I spoke to stated that the flooding was worse in 2018 than the previous times of river flooding in 2011 and 2006. This flood event was mostly a small stream and creek flooding event and not a main stem river flood event. The flooding came on hard and fast as the rains seemed to train over the area repeatedly. The outlook for September still shows some above average precipitation but, thankfully we have had a tame Hurricane season so far.

NWS Summary of Rain Events for July and August 2018

The National Weather Service out of Binghamton did a nice summary of the rain events and posted it on their site.

https://www.weather.gov/bgm/pastFloodJulyAugust2018

Aerial View of the Flooding near where I live

http://heart-centered-living.org/wellsburg-flooding/

Most Starred Python Projects on Github

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I have been working through the Python Crash Course book by Eric Matthes. I got to Chapter 17, Working With API’s  and ran the example code python_repos_updated.py that generates an SVG graph of the most starred Github Python projects. The thing that stands out to me is the amount of machine learning related resources that show up on this hot list. The interactive graph is generated by using Pygal which works well and is easy to use.

Interactive SVG Graph of Most Starred Github Python Projects

Out of curiosity I looked at the most starred C projects on Github as well with a simple modification of the code.

Interactive SVG Graph of the Most Starred Github C Projects

Python Crash Course

The book has been a good resource to develop programming skills in Python, my background is in C primarily and this book was an excellent starting point to officially learn Python. What I mean by that, is that I have been using Python by modding other peoples code when I need some piece of code to use for some application. For a few years I was learning it that way on an as needed basis (plus using the Internet to look up things that I might get suck on) which works to a point. When I started to get into machine learning a bit deeper, I could see that having a more formal introduction to Python would be helpful. Having a book that goes through the process formally helped to quickly build skills in my opinion. In a matter of a few months I have gone through a decent amount of the book and have been able to branch off some of the examples and create free standing code that was interesting to learn from.

Script to check and re-connect WiFi on Raspberry Pi

Info Links, Linux, Raspberry Pi, Raspberry Pi Server, , , , ,

After having occasional dropouts of the Raspberry Pi Wifi ( after I started using it as a bridge) and having to ifup the wlan0 manually, I considered making a script to automate it. But, a little searching online found this elegant solution to the problem.

mharizanov/WiFiCheck

https://gist.github.com/mharizanov/5325450

Install Slackware on a VM

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Easy to follow tutorial on installing Slackware Linux onto a Virtual Machine

I have been interested in trying out Slackware for some time now. The Slackware Linux Essentials ( aka Slackbook) is an excellent review of Slackware and Linux in general. I went through it one winter a few years ago and was impressed as it was a great refresher course on Linux. After a while I tend to forget some of the tricks on the command line that I do not use on a regular basis. Going over a manual like this is a good brush up. Reading the book convinced me that I would have to try out Slackware someday.

Tutorial

I had no trouble following the tutorial and getting Slackware up and running on a VirtualBox VM. The current version 14.2 (February 2018) is similar enough to the 13.0 install in the guide that the few differences are not a problem. The one difference that I noticed is that when the disk is partitioned the option for bootable did not appear for me as it did in the tutorial. I just went ahead and wrote the disk and it was fine. The tool might have some logic built in to decide what to do and does not required you to tell it that it has to be set as bootable anymore.

http://archive.bnetweb.org/index.php?topic=7370.0

Slackware DVD ISO Torrent Page

http://www.slackware.com/getslack/torrents.php

Slackware Live DVD/USB Stick

Live DVD/USB Stick installs are relatively new for Slackware. In case you want to just go ahead and try it on a Live CD or USB stick it is now available as a download.
http://bear.alienbase.nl/mirrors/slackware/slackware-live/

Miscanthus giganteus

Info Links, My Thoughts, Plants,

I recently saw a stand of Miscanthus giganteus at Cutler Gardens in Binghamton,NY. It is an impressive grass standing at 10-11 feet tall. I am thinking of ordering some rhizomes to grow some. It would make a nice natural privacy fence. It sure looks cool too, even when it dies off it still stands nice and tall. I imagine the snow will eventually knock it over in the winter. When I saw it, I looked it up on the little pamphlets available at the gardens and of course on Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miscanthus_giganteus
Who would have know that it can be actually used as a biofuel! What an interesting plant and it is a so called C4 plant as well just like corn, it can more efficiency convert water and CO2, via photosynthesis into plant material, giving it an edge in creating biomass.

I found a place to order the rhizomes too…

http://www.mapleriverfarms.com/index.php

Using mount with bind to access usb drive via vsFTP

Info Links, Linux, Raspberry Pi, Raspberry Pi Server, Server, , , , , ,

I have a USB stick plugged into my Raspberry Pi for external storage, mostly to put music on for the Sockso Music Server to get at. But I wanted to use it a bit more for generic storage. FTP is great, you can get to it from any machine and the command line for it is the same on Win or Linux. So I can walk up to any machine, not have to install a thing and reach into a folder with FTP.

For instance, I have an infected Windows Machine, I don’t dare stick a USB stick in it. Instead I go to the command line, ftp to the Raspberry Pi and grab the tools I need from there.

The Issue

The issue was that I tried to symlink from the ftp directory to the USB drive. vsFTP will not follow symlinks for security reasons.

The Solution

Mount the directory you want under the FTP directory using bind. /media/sda is the USB stick mount point and the whole thing gets mounted under the FTP dir using…

sudo mount --bind /media/sda/ /home/ftpuser/usb-drive/

Resources

FTP on Raspberry Pi. An easy way to make shared folders

Alternatives to FTP

https://radu.cotescu.com/vsftpd-and-symbolic-links/