Ralph Patterson runs an advanced-technology lab and builds the systems behind it: networks, data pipelines and machine-learning models. Notes on how things work, and how to test whether they really do.https://ralphpatterson.com/https://ralphpatterson.com/notes/martin-luk-triggers-spx-daily/https://ralphpatterson.com/notes/martin-luk-triggers-spx-daily/Momentum trading often lives in the crosshairs between discretionary chart pattern reading and systematic rule-based execution. One popular retail momentum methodology gaining traction is the high-performing swing breakout system outlined by trader Martin Luk, targeting explosive continuation setups…Fri, 09 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://ralphpatterson.com/notes/the-western-world-at-a-crossroads-capitalism-collectivism-and-the-path-to-prosperity/https://ralphpatterson.com/notes/the-western-world-at-a-crossroads-capitalism-collectivism-and-the-path-to-prosperity/This is probably one of the most important commentaries on the ideas that have secured free democratic governance in recent years. While the video itself is President Milei speech translated from Spanish into Engish using AI, it's intent of warning nondescript "democracies" about the dangers of…Mon, 22 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://ralphpatterson.com/notes/what-ai-is-smarter-than-i-thought/https://ralphpatterson.com/notes/what-ai-is-smarter-than-i-thought/Machine Learning and the Quest for Low Training and Validation Loss This is an article that results from too much time in geekdom (never thought I'd use that word in a sentence). I contemplate these ideas as everyone is so pro-machine learning they're not considering the inherent short comings of…Mon, 24 Jul 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://ralphpatterson.com/notes/bard-know-when-to-walk-away/https://ralphpatterson.com/notes/bard-know-when-to-walk-away/While I attempt (and for the most part am successful), I reframe from the use of profanity. It's simply improper, uncivil and really reflects on our own intellect (don't tell my graduate mentor). With the ease of using large language models you can find yourself relying on the models too much. This…Thu, 13 Jul 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://ralphpatterson.com/notes/how-to-publishing-for-free-real-time-colab-python-data-frame-to-wordpress-without-plugins/https://ralphpatterson.com/notes/how-to-publishing-for-free-real-time-colab-python-data-frame-to-wordpress-without-plugins/This is something I'm finding utterly amazing! Amazing in it's simplicity and it's amazing the subject isn't documented better ... and I find it frustrating with all the incomplete information in blog articles and websites that tout the ability to do so. This isn't to say their information is…Thu, 13 Jul 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://ralphpatterson.com/notes/a-conversation-with-bard-googles-ai/https://ralphpatterson.com/notes/a-conversation-with-bard-googles-ai/Ever got into an argument ... with a rock? Interacting with chat bots can be just like that. You've undoubtedly encountered one with the automated IVR systems. Interacting with ChatGPT and Baird can be far more rewarding than automated IVRs with the likes of Verizon. What follows are a series of…Fri, 07 Jul 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://ralphpatterson.com/notes/real-world-ai-failures-think-twice-before-you-let-the-machine-decide/https://ralphpatterson.com/notes/real-world-ai-failures-think-twice-before-you-let-the-machine-decide/AI, for whatever the reason, is garnering a great deal of attention of late. AI has been with us for some time despite all the recent hype. AI has been used to enhance productivity, analyze data as well as make decisions in place of humans. While delivering some ever increasing impressive results,…Fri, 07 Jul 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://ralphpatterson.com/notes/kiss-python-a-keep-it-simple-silly-primer-without-jumping-off-a-cliff-part-1/https://ralphpatterson.com/notes/kiss-python-a-keep-it-simple-silly-primer-without-jumping-off-a-cliff-part-1/If you are on the fence about whether or not to learn Python this no frills primer walk you through the basics of learning to code in Python. This has been drafted as there a lot of articles on learning to code with Python, most with a bloat of "course" material that can be daunting - especially if…Thu, 17 Mar 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://ralphpatterson.com/notes/need-a-qr-code-to-complete-the-activation-of-your-new-t-mobile-cell-phone/https://ralphpatterson.com/notes/need-a-qr-code-to-complete-the-activation-of-your-new-t-mobile-cell-phone/You've got your new phone, you're trying to activate it and it prompts you for a QR code. You dig through the box of papers and nodda. Don't worry T-Mobile has you covered. ... but before you scan the QR code make sure you have activated your eSIM (you can do this by logging into your account online…Wed, 16 Mar 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://ralphpatterson.com/notes/can-you-use-an-apple-watch-series-7-without-cell-service-yes/https://ralphpatterson.com/notes/can-you-use-an-apple-watch-series-7-without-cell-service-yes/So you've got this brand new Apple Watch and you want to either gift it to someone or simply avoid the line charges with it - what to do? Welp, first thing is to call the carrier to ensure you aren't being charge for cellular services. Quite often there is a line charge associated with the watch if…Wed, 09 Mar 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://ralphpatterson.com/notes/how-to-install-pycharm-an-open-source-python-editor/https://ralphpatterson.com/notes/how-to-install-pycharm-an-open-source-python-editor/Coders need an editor to compose and test their programs in. PyCharm fits the bill when it comes to cross platform code editors for Python beginners. It is easy to install on Windows, macOS and Linux. Best of all the community version is "free" - perfect if you are thinking about learning Python but…Mon, 28 Feb 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://ralphpatterson.com/notes/your-iphone-flashes-the-message-sim-is-locked-warning-do-not-guess-your-pin/https://ralphpatterson.com/notes/your-iphone-flashes-the-message-sim-is-locked-warning-do-not-guess-your-pin/This is one of those obnoxious errors that will pop up unannounced, and usually at the most inconvenient of times. This well intended security feature can leave you in a predicament. Luckily emergency calling is still enabled. Unless you've assigned a pin code to your SIM you are now locked out from…Tue, 22 Feb 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://ralphpatterson.com/notes/watching-mu-1st-2nd-quarter-2022/https://ralphpatterson.com/notes/watching-mu-1st-2nd-quarter-2022/4th Quarter Stock with 1st/2nd Quarter 2022 Potential As an enduser of Micron memory products I take a great interest in the company. Micron (Mu) has weathered the second year of the pandemic, fears of inflation, and Fed policy changes. In the second and third quarters of 2021 Micron retracted in…Mon, 21 Feb 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://ralphpatterson.com/notes/iphone-12-13-says-no-service-and-has-cellular-signal-at-the-same-time-which-is-it/https://ralphpatterson.com/notes/iphone-12-13-says-no-service-and-has-cellular-signal-at-the-same-time-which-is-it/Cell phones are a technological marvel we take for granted. They have become an integral part of our lives and understanding how they work has become less important, as we at the same time depend on them all the more. There are a host of reasons for a cell phone showing "No Service" and the…Sat, 19 Feb 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://ralphpatterson.com/notes/awakening-the-coder-in-you-learn-some-python-with-google-colab/https://ralphpatterson.com/notes/awakening-the-coder-in-you-learn-some-python-with-google-colab/Why Python? / Why Google Colab? "Googling" these questions you'll get hundreds, if not thousands, of results. To save you some time in determining if Python is right for you and worth your time, I'll share my perspective - without selling you anything or collecting your personal information. Python…Mon, 07 Feb 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://ralphpatterson.com/notes/defeating-iphone-13-ios-15-migration-intimidation-backup-and-restore/https://ralphpatterson.com/notes/defeating-iphone-13-ios-15-migration-intimidation-backup-and-restore/Probably the single greatest cell phone operating system is iOS. While I am an Android fan, I have to submit to the consistency between iPhone versions themselves and the respective version of iOS the phones have installed. While having commonalities, Android suffers from customized differences…Tue, 18 Jan 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://ralphpatterson.com/notes/your-life-savings-down-the-drain-riskfree-stock-market-practice-using-monopoly-money-paper-trading-platforms/https://ralphpatterson.com/notes/your-life-savings-down-the-drain-riskfree-stock-market-practice-using-monopoly-money-paper-trading-platforms/One of the greatest failures of the current grade school educational system is in the area of life skills. The necessity for life skills is paramount, it should be where we put our academic skills to practical use. Practicality has found itself pushed aside for higher learning and technical…Thu, 09 Sep 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://ralphpatterson.com/notes/71-wells-fargo-return-in-two-days-the-trade-that-went-wrong/https://ralphpatterson.com/notes/71-wells-fargo-return-in-two-days-the-trade-that-went-wrong/How do you get a 71% in two days froth with trading mistakes? ... and given the news of late, from $WFC no less. Some might think dumb luck, but with closer examination and in considering the price action of $WFC, probability can be on your side. Having a trading plan and knowing your risk - the…Tue, 17 Aug 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://ralphpatterson.com/notes/parking-the-tsla-trade-why-we-have-trade-rules/https://ralphpatterson.com/notes/parking-the-tsla-trade-why-we-have-trade-rules/Trading $TSLA Price Action Using the Scientific Method Part III For my “Stock Market Madness” Students By the title, it is easy to conclude $TSLA remains "no trade" (at least to the "long" side). Despite there being no trade it is imperative to understand "why". Have a grade school student (9-18)…Tue, 10 Aug 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://ralphpatterson.com/notes/the-tsla-price-action-experiment-part-ii/https://ralphpatterson.com/notes/the-tsla-price-action-experiment-part-ii/Trading $TSLA Price Action Using the Scientific Method Part II This is the second in a multipart (thought experiment ... possibly gone wrong) set of articles contemplating a trade on $TSLA based on price action using the scientific method. Refer to the previous article on the observations (potential…Thu, 05 Aug 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://ralphpatterson.com/notes/trading-tsla-price-action-using-the-scientific-method/https://ralphpatterson.com/notes/trading-tsla-price-action-using-the-scientific-method/This analysis is for entertainment purposes, what to do with this information is found in the disclaimer below. This trade is suggested as a simulation - paper trade only. When you want to learn to trade, check out TastyTrade - they have a FREE trading program, and when you're ready to open a…Wed, 04 Aug 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://ralphpatterson.com/notes/followup-on-facebooks-ai-crystalball-prophet-algorithm-in-predicting-fb-stock-price-movement/https://ralphpatterson.com/notes/followup-on-facebooks-ai-crystalball-prophet-algorithm-in-predicting-fb-stock-price-movement/While the Prophet model did not "nail" any price targets, I leave open to the possibility that it "may have" implied a price direction. In the previous article, code was given to generate the price target and confidence limits for the price of Facebook ($FB) shares using Facebook's AI predictive…Tue, 03 Aug 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://ralphpatterson.com/notes/pythonic-language-huh/https://ralphpatterson.com/notes/pythonic-language-huh/In short, “pythonic” describes a coding style that leverages Python's unique features to write code that is readable and beautiful. ... Since its first release in 1991, Python has become the most popular general-purpose programming language. Thanks to its transparency and readability, it is suitable…Mon, 02 Aug 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://ralphpatterson.com/notes/how-to-use-facebooks-prophet-ai-to-forecast-fb-stock-price/https://ralphpatterson.com/notes/how-to-use-facebooks-prophet-ai-to-forecast-fb-stock-price/This article is not promoting any trade suggestions or the use of AI in financial decision-making. It is for informational purposes only. Facebook's AI Prophet algorithm is being used by machine learning enthusiasts and traders to predict the future price of stocks. The goal of this article is to…Mon, 26 Jul 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://ralphpatterson.com/notes/a-hot-coffee-warning-label-for-ai-ml-users-and-deep-learning-things-are-not-always-what-they-always-appear-to-be/https://ralphpatterson.com/notes/a-hot-coffee-warning-label-for-ai-ml-users-and-deep-learning-things-are-not-always-what-they-always-appear-to-be/Where to start with this one. Experienced MLers, hopefully you can simply disregard this article as you should know the ramifications of your work. As such I do not profess the talent of many coders I've had the pleasure of encountering online. There are thousands of wonderful and fascinating…Wed, 14 Jul 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://ralphpatterson.com/notes/have-you-taken-the-time-to-check-in-with-someone-today/https://ralphpatterson.com/notes/have-you-taken-the-time-to-check-in-with-someone-today/It's not something that we do in the world as often as we should, especially for independent minded Americans ... but everyone is social to some level. In today's environment and with the ever increasing remote worker it would pay for employers, fellow employees and especially family and friends…Thu, 01 Apr 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://ralphpatterson.com/notes/discovery-and-the-scientific-method/https://ralphpatterson.com/notes/discovery-and-the-scientific-method/It's true, there are many deductive discoveries of a scientific nature which occurred purely accidentally and/or have happened without intent. Discoveries without intent often lack in reason of function because there was no underlying understanding of cause and effect. We can combine a blue solution…Thu, 25 Feb 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://ralphpatterson.com/notes/voluntarily-stranded-in-bali-flight-cancellations/https://ralphpatterson.com/notes/voluntarily-stranded-in-bali-flight-cancellations/"Thanks for calling United Airlines ... " The telephone hold IVR plays its corporate generic greeting followed by some music. This is where phone calls of this nature go dark. You end up dangling from a thread, with your ear feeling like it has a brick grinding into it as you trying to listen for…Wed, 06 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://ralphpatterson.com/notes/there-is-no-such-thing-as-new-math/https://ralphpatterson.com/notes/there-is-no-such-thing-as-new-math/Image from EmilysBrainWorks – another good article to reference baring in mind the method should be what the student understands not so much how the teacher teaches the method of solution. I’m sorry. I know it’s disappointing. There is no such thing as new math. “2 + 2” will always equal “4”. The…Tue, 28 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://ralphpatterson.com/notes/the-constructionist-in-all-of-us-limiting-less-relevant-and-inert-facts/https://ralphpatterson.com/notes/the-constructionist-in-all-of-us-limiting-less-relevant-and-inert-facts/We all interpret information differently. The traditional method of education is seen as "a place where the teacher ("expert") pours knowledge into passive students, who wait like empty vessels to be filled", including factoids to later be regurgitated with some degree of memorization in an…Mon, 26 Aug 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://ralphpatterson.com/notes/sometimes-its-the-simpler-things/https://ralphpatterson.com/notes/sometimes-its-the-simpler-things/Ouch! Actually I said something much worse, luckily no one was there other than the trees to hear me. I won't complain though, I know the risks of digging into a bee hive. This particular one has a nasty infestation of small hive beetles (SHB) which makes for VERY unhappy bees. Despite being there…Fri, 16 Aug 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://ralphpatterson.com/notes/learning-by-discourse/https://ralphpatterson.com/notes/learning-by-discourse/While simple in structure and seemingly boring, a grain of salt is really rather interesting. Life is rarely what one would suppose in detail. Sure, many out there in the world have little expectations of how the next moment will unfold and are seemingly complacent without interest. Mine isn't a…Tue, 23 Jul 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://ralphpatterson.com/notes/whats-the-most-you-ever-lost-in-a-coin-toss/https://ralphpatterson.com/notes/whats-the-most-you-ever-lost-in-a-coin-toss/Anton: "Let me ask you something. What's the most you've ever lost in a coin toss?" Gas station proprietor "Look I need to know what I stand to win." Anton: "Everything. Just call it." This is life. "Every step that you take could be your biggest mistake. I could bend or it could break. That's the…Sat, 13 Jul 2019 00:00:00 GMT