AI notes

Ollama provides a way to run AI models on your PC with around 16 GB ram. It is slow but it works. Need to try connecting with eGPU as my mac supports Thunderbolt 4. 

 

Ollama AI

https://ollama.com/

ollama run llama2

Uncensored models

ollama run llama2-uncensored

ollama run nous-hermes-llama2

ollama run wizard-vicuna

ollama run codellama. //for java, python, c++ etc

ollama list

http://127.0.0.1:11434/

https://ollamahub.com/  

docker run -d -p 3000:8080 --add-host=host.docker.internal:host-gateway --name ollama-webui --restart always ghcr.io/ollama-webui/ollama-webui:main

ollama webui 

1. cd /Users/[]/AI/ollama-webui/backend

 2. sh start.sh

1. http://localhost:8080/

Open chrome with debug port

cd /Applications/Google Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS

./Google\ Chrome --remote-debugging-port=9222

TextGen

Manual installation text generation webui using Conda

https://github.com/oobabooga/text-generation-webui

Recommended if you have some experience with the command-line.

0. Install Conda

https://docs.conda.io/en/latest/miniconda.html

On Linux or WSL, it can be automatically installed with these two commands (source):

curl -sL "https://repo.anaconda.com/miniconda/Miniconda3-latest-Linux-x86_64.sh" > "Miniconda3.sh"

bash Miniconda3.sh

1. Create a new conda environment

conda create -n textgen python=3.11

conda activate textgen

2. Install Pytorch

System	GPU	Command
Linux/WSL	NVIDIA	pip3 install torch torchvision torchaudio --index-url https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cu121
Linux/WSL	CPU only	pip3 install torch torchvision torchaudio --index-url https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cpu
Linux	AMD	pip3 install torch torchvision torchaudio --index-url https://download.pytorch.org/whl/rocm5.6
MacOS + MPS	Any	pip3 install torch torchvision torchaudio
Windows	NVIDIA	pip3 install torch torchvision torchaudio --index-url https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cu121
Windows	CPU only	pip3 install torch torchvision torchaudio

The up-to-date commands can be found here: https://pytorch.org/get-started/locally/.

For NVIDIA, you may also need to manually install the CUDA runtime libraries:

conda install -y -c "nvidia/label/cuda-12.1.0" cuda-runtime

3. Install the web UI

git clone https://github.com/oobabooga/text-generation-webui

cd text-generation-webui

pip install -r <requirements file according to table below>

Requirements file to use:

GPU	CPU	requirements file to use
Apple	Intel	requirements_apple_intel.txt

conda activate textgen

cd text-generation-webui

python server.py

Sanskrit slokas

1. The seeker

 vidyA turAnAm na sukham na nidrA

arda turAnAm na bandhu na mitrA

kshudha turAnAm na ruchi na pakwam

kAmA turAnAm na bhayam na lazzA

Pursuit knows no comfort no sleep

Greed knows no relatives no friends

Hunger knows no taste no ripening

Desperation/lust know no fear no shame

Speed reading techniques

Did you know that most of us use only 4% to 10% of our mental abilities?

Speed reading is not just about reading faster; it's about learning to use much more of the extraordinary powers of the Mind.

1. Eliminate sub vocalization

When you read, are you aware of an inner voice that follows the words as your eyes move across the page or the computer screen? This inner voice is called 'subvocalization'. You probably experience it as a slight movement in the tongue or throat region. As long as you subvocalize, you limit your reading to the speed of normal speech, to about 300 w.p.m.

The Mind is capable of thinking much faster than that. So when you subvocalize, you're literally holding back your mind. Try this exercise:

As you read, count to yourself, silently, from one to ten. Or, repeat the sound 'Eee', 'Eee', 'Eee'. It will be impossible to do this at the same time as subvocalizing, so this is an excellent way of

breaking the habit of subvocalization.

As you do this exercise, you'll become aware that you're no longer processing the words in the tongue/throat region but in an area called 'thought stream' that you experience in the top of your head.

THOUGHT STREAM MOVES MUCH FASTER THAN SUBVOCALIZATION. AND THAT'S WHY PEOPLE WHO SUBVOCALIZE OFTEN HAVE COMPREHENSION PROBLEMS.

There's a mismatch between reading speed and thinking speed. The Mind is constantly racing ahead of the inner voice and so it gets bored. You experience this as an inability to hold your
attention on what you're reading. You have to back-skip words, or read the same line twice.

As your reading speed catches up with your thinking speed, reading becomes much less tiring and your comprehension improves.

2. Eye movements

Once you've got a feeling for reading in 'thought stream', the next thing to do is speed up your eye movements. This will also help break the habit of sub-vocalization, since your eyes will be moving

faster than you can possibly subvocalize.

Your eyes move across the written page in a series of quick jumps. Between each jump there's a stop lasting a fraction of second, called a 'fixation'. The fixation is when the eye actually takes in the written word.

The untrained eye takes about a quarter of a second at each fixation, and takes in 2 or 3 words per fixation.

By speeding up you eye movements, you'll learn to make fewer fixations per line and take in more words per fixation.

Try this exercise:

If you use a glass 'anti-glare' screen, draw 2 vertical lines in felt-tip, 5 cms apart, so that you have a strip 5 cms wide located over the middle of the text you are reading.

Now move your eyes in a 'Z' pattern down this central strip, at a speed faster slightly faster than is comfortable.

Because your Mind is not reading each word, it is forced to 'fill in the gaps'. This engages much more of the Mind, since it has to build associations and patterns in the written material. This in turn

leads to greater comprehension and increased memory of what was read.

This technique takes advantage of the fact that much of written English is highly redundant; a lot of words can be skipped without any loss of meaning.

When your eyes move down a central strip of the text, you also engage much more of your peripheral vision. And that in turn brings the right hemisphere of the brain into the reading process. You make much more use of the right-brain's ability to synthesize and build relationships within the material.

So speed reading is not just about reading faster; it also allows you to access much more of the brain and thereby increases your comprehension and creativity.

Some more on Incresing reading speed

As our eyes move across the page they make a series of jerky movements. Whenever they come to rest on a word that is called a fixation. Most people fixate once on each word across a line of print.
In order to make our speed increase we must take in more words with each fixation, rather than make our eyes move faster.
1. Try to avoid focusing on every word, but rather look at groups of 2 to 3 words. For instance, this sentence could be grouped in this manner: for instance / this sentence / could be grouped / in this manner
2. Work on vocabulary improvement. Familiarize yourself with new words so you don't get stuck on them when you read them again.
3. If you find yourself moving your lips when reading, force yourself to read faster by following (1.) above so that you can no longer move your lips.
4. Read more! 15 minutes a day of reading an average size novel equals 18 books a year at an average reading speed!
5. Determine your purpose before reading. If you only need main ideas, then allow yourself to skim the material. Don't feel you must read very word.
6. Spend a few minutes a day reading at a faster than comfortable rate (about 2 to 3 times faster than your normal speed). Use your hand or an index card to guide your eyes down the page. Then time yourself reading a few pages at your normal speed. You'll find that often your normal reading speed will increase after your skimming practice.
7. If you have poor concentration when reading, practice reading for only 5 - 10 minutes at a time and gradually increase this time.
8. There are several books on increasing reading speed available in most bookstores. If you are serious about increasing your rate you may want to work systematically through one of these books.

Reference: http://xpresspraveen.blogspot.com/2008/02/incresing-reading-speed.html

Virtual box gotchas

Virtual box 

  - creates guest OS virtual machines on host operating system (the ones you use enerally) 

By default the resolution of the guest OS will not be same as host os (your actual os). You will need to install Guest additions and switch to Seamless mode after the os is started.

Running VPN within virtual box : 

https://windowsreport.com/vpn-not-working-on-virtualbox/

Open VPN in windows 10 virtual machine with DNS blocked on VPN gateway:

    Context: The Open VPN server on company network was not supporting external DNS resolution . This was probably blocked by admin for security reasons.  The suggested approach was to use dnsmasq which is supported only on mac /linux. But i was on windows 10, hence had to find an alternative. I tried Acryllic DNS proxy client. Basically AcryllicDNS does dns resolution on the local system. 

1. Below is result of DNS resolution with Acryllic DNS running and open VPN off

c:> nslookup google.com 127.0.0.1

C:\Users\sandeep>nslookup google.com 127.0.0.1

Server:  UnKnown

Address:  127.0.0.1

Non-authoritative answer:

Name:    google.com

Addresses:  2a00:1450:4009:81d::200e

          142.250.180.14

You see above the DNS got resolved using Acryllic DNS running on 127.0.0.1

2. Below is result of DNS resolution with Acryllic DNS running and open VPN running

c:> nslookup google.com 127.0.0.1 

C:\Users\sandeep>nslookup google.com 127.0.0.1

DNS request timed out.

    timeout was 2 seconds.

Server:  UnKnown   Address:  127.0.0.1

DNS request timed out.

    timeout was 2 seconds. ...

*** Request to UnKnown timed-out

As you see above the problem with DNS resolution when open VPN is on .

 

Note: By default DNS server of choice was picked from the open VPN  ethernet adapter TAP. This can be switched to use localhost (127.0.0.1) by setting the metric on adapter (Adapter properties >> IpV4 >> Advanced settings >> metric = 5). 

Basic commands

1. To list all the registered VMs: vboxmanage list vms




Network commands on windows :

1. ping -t google.com

2. tracert google.com [8.8.8.8]  ([] is the DNS server to override)

3. route print  ( After tracert we can run this to check the route you amazon packet took ;) )

          4. ipconfig /displaydns  [ /flushdns ]

 

Gotchas:

1. For fixing screen resize one needs to install guest additions plugin for virtual box. Sometimes it doesnt do anything on clicking Device >> Insert guest additions.

Fix : Insert Guest Additions simply inserts a CD. That's it. If your guest supports Autoplay and it is enabled, the installation will start. Otherwise you'll have to start the installation manually. More details on the user manual, ch. 4.2.

Ref: https://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?t=86281

2. Coming out of scaled mode : hit right CTRL + C , right CTRL +L to come out of seamless mode

3. Guest doesnt resolve dns when open vpn is connected

VBoxManage modifyvm "<VM name>" --natdnshostresolver1 on

As a result, guest OS DNS requests will be intercepted and resolved using host DNS API, rather than having guest OS connect to external DNS servers as with --natdnsproxy1 on.

Ref: https://superuser.com/questions/641933/how-to-get-virtualbox-vms-to-use-hosts-dns

4. Connecting from mac Guest OS to windows host os (as guest additions was not working):

       1.Shared the windows folder (right click folder >> properties >> share)

        2. ON virtual box VM config, add another adapter 2 called Bridged adapter. This will create a bridged network adapter for which you fix a static ip say 192.168.1.100.

        3. From Mac Guest open Finder (icon in the panel) >> Click Go menu >> Connect to server. Enter Ip 192.168.1.100. Thats it shared folder appears.

          Refer link

References :

• VBoxManage commands : https://blog.scottlowe.org/2016/11/10/intro-to-vbox-cli/

Trading in Indian stock market for dummies

 I dedicated almost an year on studying stock market practically and later automating it with python using Zerodha API, will refine my ideas here for others to get a jump start. 

Here we go ...Broadly there are 2 ways of trading(excluding commodities for simplicity)

1. Equity

    Shares are created by companies when they go public via IPO(initial public offering). These prices move mainly based on company performance(Quarterly results), new deals signed , government policies (budget, eg: privatisation of banks ), market sentiment (Carona wave, petrol price), US markets.

Strategies

    - Check US market to see the condition of market as US market is ~12 hours behind IST.  Expect Indian market to move in unison with USA unless there is no major local market conditions.

   - During July many companies have quarterly results, the markets tend to go down.

    - Check for earnings release of company Money control earnings and buy if:

          1. Previous quarterly earnings was profitable. Yearly earnings is profitable. 

           2. Market is not a bear market.

       Sell when you make 5-10% profit (dont get greedy) as the wave normalizes in 2 days from date of result.

MIS trading

     - The intraday trading(MIS) was never profitable except few hits. I made mistakes trading after 12pm while the intraday will close by 3.15 pm. Big mistake. MIS seems lucarative as the trading company(Zerodha in my case) gives around 6  times the leverage (1 day loan) if you are low on funds.

Better strategy for MIS is to Buy stock instead of Sell  and combine with CNC normal. As we cant convert the sell position to long CNC) in case the trade goes wrong.

      - For picking stocks :     -William %R and bollinger band indicator combined with RSI showed good results on back testing (around 8% return per month) . These are good options for short term trading ( 1 week). Also you can consider supertrend which indicates .

    

2. Futures and options

    These are just contracts created by trading agent eg : Zerodha deriving value from the actual stock or indices . For options put and call is used and purchased using premium price, during expiry the profit and loss on the derived stock is considered. Futures they are like equities but are contracts in future based without delivery and they have a monthy expiry. The weekly contracts end on thursday every week, also there are monthly contracts which end last thursday of the month.

    - We trade on momentum of the stock derivative

    - Super trend indicator is best.

    - The Options contract premium near to the derived stock has huge movements (sometimes 100% movement) and are highly risky if you dont know how to do.

Gotchas:

1. Never trade by applying your emotions and with a fickle mind, always be rule and data driven. 

2. Dont trade on MIS (margin intra day) after say 1pm. Convert position from MIS to CNC(Normal long) position for buy trades to avoid losses.

3. For Options contract never trade on contract expiring 2 days before. You loose the cushion of time incase the market swings in the opposite direction of your trade. 

Corona virus - immunity, treatment options / research

Corona virus - यह क्या करोना करोना हो रहा है भय्या !
--------------------
1. Develop Immunity :
   Pranayama - anulom vilom, brastrika, kapal bhati
   Food : vitamin c rich food like lemon juice,  amla juice
   Medicine : swarna bhasma mixed with honey thoroughly,  take 2 drops a day
   Spiritual/scalar: meditation, omm mantra chant,  shank blow, for nitic oxide production

Baba ramdev suggestion for carona
https://youtu.be/lLP3rgliqG8

2. Treatment:
    Medicine : swarna bhasma mixed with honey thoroughly and consumed
    Hydrochloroquine? Untested but been recommended as emergency.

3. Prevention :
   Social distance,  quarantine etc

4. Learn :
   1. It has been told the spike protein of virus binds to the cell receptors before injecting its DNA or RNA? into the cell to replicate.
   2. Baba ramdev suggestion for carona
https://youtu.be/lLP3rgliqG8

   3. Nano gold colloid treatment  suggested  by captain ajit vadakayil  as per ayurveda suravna bhasma
http://ajitvadakayil.blogspot.com/2020/02/coronavirus-deaths-nano-gold-colloids.html?m=1

Why not we as enterpreuners start building/distributing/collaborate for which will help fight carona virus in my opinion. eg :
1.  Patient healthcare:
   Mobile app+IOT based portable ventilators using arduino for patients. Eg:
https://youtu.be/IgAR4yWDsg0

2. Prevention/sterilization
     - Masks - n95 grade
     - Ozone/UV/gas based sanitizers
     - UV/ozone sterilization booths for say supermarkets/ ATM/enclosed areas
     Eg:  https://youtu.be/SqytOuYfsnA

3. Virus testing kit (mobile app based with otg component?? )
5. Vaccine development accelerate
7. IOT virus sensors to detect potential threats??
8. Marketing and distribution of above.

My proprietary builds mobile and web based solutions for small business.. if i can have IOT collaboration,  can create useful products.

https://twitter.com/ajeetbharath/status/1242294128211197955

  More to come as i evolve in this matter

Constructing house DIY for dummies

Foundation and plinth

Super structure above plinth beam

Steps of house construction (Mysuru, Karnataka) for 30 x 40 plot with costs for reference

1. Paper work:

1.  Approval from Urban development authority of sanction plan  (this is for approval only showing the space from compound to house etc)
1. Sanction plan cost for 2 floors Rs. 2,500  . done in 2 days
2. Government fee for approval : Rs.21,000. Done in 2 weeks
2. Working plan  Rs. 2500. Done in 3-4 days (ensure you spend more time on this as it is realized and cant change after starting)
3. Structural design plan (showing the columns position, plinth beam details) Rs.7000
4. KEB electricity approval can be done after sanction plan approval.. Rs.6000 for 1kw

     Total cost: 39,000

2. Dig borewell before starting any work. 

     Cost :rs 70 per feet . 240 feet digging cost Rs. 50,000 along with 100 feet of casing pipe (which costed a lot around rs. 28000) . Done in 1 day.

     Gotchas: The bore digging company cheated us by charging Rs.280 per length (20 feet long) MS pipe of 7 inch diameter. The actual cost in market is just Rs. 130 per length. We needed 5 lengths of such pipe

In fact the cost of pipe was more than digging. b** cheated us as we didnt know and they force us to use their pipes. Better to be informed about it and negotiate early.

3. Foundation

    1.Digging - carried out by JCB in 1 day. 12 columns with pit size 5 ft x 5ft x5 ft. Also sump is dug
    Gotchas: The sump dug was too small and we ended up manual digging. Make sure you consider atleast 9 x 6 x 6 feet sump for storing 9,000 litres of water. The sump dug should be 2 feet more than what you want to build that is 11 x 8 x 7 feet so after laying bricks it will be as required
     Cost breakup: Rs.550
                           JCB hired at Rs.750/hour x 5 hours = 3750
                           Tractor hired for dumping mud from JCB = 1800

   2. Footing -
          a. Prepare : Before column footing is filled with 1.6 feet of concrete it should be prepared with 6 inches of concrete using 40mm jelli (big sized) and cement.
          b. Bar bending for column and mat for footing: 4 feet square mat is laid below as per column size given in structural design the TMT bar diameter is selected like 12mm, 16mm. The column using TMT bar is 20 feet high.
          b. Footing concrete is added for upto 1.6 feet with concrete. The grade of concrete we selected was M15 for footing (1: 2 :4 bandli of cement: msand: jelli or 1 bag :4 bandli: 8 bandli of ratio). Refer. Less than 25 litres of water should be used per bag of cement. Better to use a concrete mixing machine.
      Cost breakup: 
        1. TMT rods SK super at Rs. 47 /kg . For 820kg I paid Rs. 39,000.
        2. 70 bags of ACC cement at Rs.380/bag = Rs. 26600
        3. msand double wash : Rs. 20,000
        4. Jelli 20mm : Rs. 11000

    3. Footing column
           a. Prepare: Alway good to keep the plinth lower level 2 feet above the road (as roads will become taller over time and we can avoid rain water seepage etc). Using a water pipe the tube level is used to raise all the footing columns to plinth level. (note : plinth is normally 3 feet above the footing concrete bed but varies as per rise we want for house above the road).
Note: Plinth is basically a 2 feet hight concrete cement structure above the size stone coarse which becomes the base of all the walls being raised.
           b. Concrete column : ratio of 1:6:4 (cement : sand: gravel 20mm) was used for column building of footing column.

    4. Digging is done by laying of size stone below the plinth beam. This is done using the plinth diagram provided by the structural design team.

Polymer

https://www.polymer-project.org/2.0/start/install-2-0
Pre-requisites
--------------
npm install -g bower
npm install -g polymer-cli

Quick start
-----------
mkdir my-app
cd my-app

1. Create skeleton project
polymer init
//Press the down arrow until polymer-2-starter-kit is highlighted and press the enter / return key to select.
2. Run from the folder created
polymer serve --open

3. Run tests
polymer test --open

Next steps:
----------
1. add element
bower install --save PolymerElements/paper-checkbox


Polymer video: https://skillsmatter.com/skillscasts/5743-introduction-to-building-polymer-web-components

HTML5 video tag:
1. https://www.w3schools.com/tags/tryit.asp?filename=tryhtml5_video
2. Open video tag : (set chrome inspector >> settings >> Elements >> show shadow DOM
3. Components made of :
HTML templates  - the html that defines the web component eg: HTML for video tag
Custome elements - The things that gets injected into the shadow DOM
Shadow DOM
HTML imports
4. Anatomy of a web component:


//html here

5. Without Polymer also we can create above components
var sr=DOMelement.createShadowRoot();
sr.AC(doc.QS("#template")).content.cloneNode(true);
6. Polymer - API written by google to create shadow DOM web components.
Includes pre-written web components.
Browser support is limited but provides polyfills for older browsers

Polyfills
Provides things mentioned in point 3.
HTML templates  - the html that defines the web component eg: HTML for video tag
Custome elements - The things that gets injected into the shadow DOM
Shadow DOM
Model driven views
Web animations
Pointer events


PPT: http://slides.com/bobbijvoet/redux-polymer-8#/26

Cassandra

1. Download cassandra
Key notes
----------
Session replication on database
Nodes/Zones

ACID

C - Consistency.. Cassandra provides eventual consistency
A - Availability
P  - Partitioning ...processing can continue in the face


CQL - Cassandra query language


Let’s start with a short survey of some of the key concepts of Cassandra:

Cluster – a collection of nodes or Data Centers arranged in a ring architecture. A name must be assigned to every cluster, which will subsequently be used by the participating nodes

Keyspace – If you are coming from a relational database, then the schema is the respective keyspace in Cassandra. The keyspace is the outermost container for data in Cassandra. The main attributes to set per keyspace are the Replication Factor, the Replica Placement Strategy and the Column Families

Column Family – Column Families in Cassandra are like tables in Relational Databases. Each Column Family contains a collection of rows which are represented by a Map>. The key gives the ability to access related data together

Column – A column in Cassandra is a data structure which contains a column name, a value and a timestamp. The columns and the number of columns in each row may vary in contrast with a relational database where data are well structured



commands:
desc keyspaces

use demo
desc tables
desc department;

Nederlandse vocabulaire

Greetings :

• Goede[morgen/middag/avond] --> Good morning/afternoon/evening
• ("KHOO duh MORE khen")  ("KHOO duh midakh")  ("KHOO dun AH fohnt")

Directions :

• Noord Zuid Oost West  --> north south east west

Salutations :

• hallo("HAH low"), hoi("hoy") --> hi
• doei, tot ziens  --> bye ,see you
•  ("dooey" or "dookh")    ("toht zeens")
•  dank je    -->  thank you
• Bedankt ("buh DAHNKT")—Thanks
• Meneer ("muh NEAR")—Mister
• Mevrouw ("muh FROW")—Miss, Mrs.
• Alstublieft ("ALST oo bleeft")—Please or if you please (formal)

Numbers:

een twee drie vier vijf zes zeven acht negen tien  -->  one two three four five six seven eight nine ten

Dutch poetry:
http://4umi.com/marsman/herinnering

Vocabolario Italiano

Buongiorno  --> Good morning
Buonasera  --> Good evening
tuttala vitta, va bene --> alright
ciao  --> Hello,hi
addio --> bye

tutto bene --> everything good
tutto a posto  --> it's all OK
a posto is in place
si  --> yes
va bene allora  --> alright then
yes, ok is va bene  --> yes, ok is fine
bravo --> good   (it could be good guy, but also able guy)

ci vediamo domani  --> see you tomorrow

il domani non muore mai  --> tomorrow never dies
buon compleanno  --> Happy birthday
contento  --> Happy

GIT cheatsheet

1. Git clone
- always pulls from master

2.  Branch create/switch/download
   git checkout   //swtich branch
        - IE_Migration
       
   git checkout -b     //-b create branch
 
 
   git checkout [file name]
 
 
   Branches are created under the current branch (default master)
 
   Master <--> Dev Common Branch
          |
           ----> Dev1 Branch
         
3. Pushing
git push origin [branch name]
-u upstream
Note: so we are sure we are comitting on the right branch
***Always pass origin and [branch name] to be sure you are pushing on the right branch ****

4. git status
- status of local repo

5. Comitting specific files
   git add [file name with complete path]
   git commit -m "commit text"
 

6. git branch  // to view all the branches

7. Pull and fetch
git pull  // pull the files and automerege
git fetch   // doesnt do automerge

8. Merging
  MasterBranch ---> DevBranch
  git checkout Dev
  git pull  // to update on the branch
  git checkout MasterBranch
  git pull
  git merge DevBranch

9. Ways for merging
    1. create seperate branch per functionality
    2. Tagging
git tag -v 1.0.0 [tagName]
    3. Milestone

10. git reset -hard   //to get everything from server. all local changes will be gone.

11. Reset branch as remote
	git fetch --prune
	git reset --hard @{upstream}
	git clean -d --force

12. Branch : team/cotr
	git add .
	git commit -m “DD-17384:Added extra parameter”
	git push origin HEAD:refs/for/team/cotr
	git commit --amend --no-edit

	git log -p -2

Other
Git rebase

Guide for staying working in netherlands/ amsterdam for Indians

Netherlands is a beautiful country close to the sea with lot of water locked land area sprinkeled with natural beauty trees and flowers. Also the geometrically aligned buildings, trees, electrical poles and roads definitely needs to be praised.
The train and bus network is one of the best but expensive if you dont know how to make best use of the options available. I herewith make my best effort to help you getting around and accommodation search esp. in Amsterdam.


1. Travel

• Bus is the widely used mode of travel by expats and with highest connectivity. There are various companies who run the service like GVB, Connexxion and EBS.
• Metro is available in Amsterdam which connects majority of the places. Tram also go through some of these metro lines.
• Train is of two types. The super fast Intercity and super slow Sprinter. Link
• Bike/ Cycle. The cycle lane is all around the country and people enjoy cycling even in a Suit.

All the above can be accessed using an OV Chipkart card. First you need to buy an anonymous blue card. Later you can order a personalized yellow card which can be booked online.

Money saving tips on travel:

     Order the yellow card online and opt for a monthly buss pass based on Zone you prefer to travel from work and home. The zones you will choose can be 1, 2, 3 etc and costs Euro 50,85, 125 or so, and you can travel unlimited in these zones.

    Trains are relatively more expensive. To get discount go for a 20% peak hour discount(peak hours are work travel hours like 6:30 am to 9:00 am and 4:30 to 6:30 pm) or a 40% off peak hours discount and weekends. 

2. Accomodation

    Most Indians stay in Amstelveen (30 mins by bus to Amsterdam). Hotels are very very expensive and do not have cooking facility so best to get into shared house .

    Options - shared flat or house. Cost is around 1200 for single room flat or  1800 for double room in Amstelveen. So many go for shared house to avoid too high costs.

    Useful websites

• https://www.onlyexpats.nl
• https://www.expatriates.com/
• https://www.pararius.nl  (Dutch)
• Facebook groups like Indians in Amstelveen, Indians renting shared flat in Amsterdam/Amstelveen/. Very useful for short term room search.
• http://airbnb.com is for B& B but always be careful it might get cancelled anytime.

3. Language

     Most speak Dutch by default but would be ready to talk in English when asked. All sign boards and documents are in Dutch so it would be good to know few terminology

     Oost - East, Westen - west, Noord - North, Zuid - South

     Outgang - exit , Ingang - Entrance

     danke - thank you, doei - bye, tot ziens - good bye

Use google translate and app 

4. BSN and registration of address

        BSN - Burger (civilian) service number. It is like SSN or Aadhar number here. Once you arrive you are supposed to get it for getting a bank account or any service.  All services are provided through appointment.

        Registration of address is required to confirm you are staying and for any government related claim purpose ( i think)

5. Taxes in NL
    Taxes are very high in NL around (20-52%). Most of the working professionals fall under the 35% tax bracket. So for expats there is a 30% ruling option
    30% ruling : Basically 30% of your gross salary will not be taxed.
     Eg: You earn Euro 5000 per month gross. then you pay tax for 70% of your earning that is Euro 3500.  30% of it or Euro 1500 is without tax. So total you earn is (say at 35% tax slab) Euro 3775.

The tax slab depends on how much you earn in a year (like India tax system with tax slabs and range between 20-52%).
  Useful tax link

6. Visa 
        HSM visa is required for working non-european nationals eg: Indians
        Schengan visa for tourists to travel around Europe. Link

I hope to write more about points 5. and 6. soon.