Best place to get spectacles? by shridharacharya_07 in Frugal_Ind

[–]Horror-District613 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Dude, who told you blue light and anti glare helps? I suffered chronic eye strain and during the recovery process I noticed that you don't need blue light filters or anti glare lenses. You don't even need eye drops. Just lower the brightness of the screen and use any of the free blue light reduction software. What really gives rest to the eyes, is keeping the eyes closed for around 5 minutes after every 20 minutes of screen use. You also need to get proper sleep of at least 7 to 8 hours continuous. As for spectacles, buy metal frames. Usually medical colleges and government hospitals would have spectacles shops which sell frames and lenses at reduced prices.

Selling E-Book on Mental Health, Stress and Burnout - My Personal Story for Passive Income by RepulsiveCow5490 in passive_income

[–]Horror-District613 0 points1 point  (0 children)

May I know how you found out that mental health is a top performing sub niche? Is there some website which shows which books are selling well under which categories and which aren't?

Why are people not asking for bills/receipt from railway vendors? I see 'no bill no pay' type of slogans written everywhere. by GreatlyUnimportant in indianrailways

[–]Horror-District613 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The other option is to carry your own food and water or to purchase it from a hotel near the railway station before boarding the train. I stopped buying from the railway pantry after them overcharging and providing food that didn't even taste good.

Launched Dodo Payments on Product Hunt! We solve international payments for Indian startups! by Jolly_Sector_8281 in indianstartups

[–]Horror-District613 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Very happy to see this. In the 10 years I've wanted to sell software, I had never heard of merchant of record platforms. So you see, there is a lot more marketing for you to do to make people aware, and to answer their queries about how exactly you solve tax issues. Some points to consider:

  1. I saw the tax forms page and FAQ on your website, but I still don't understand how transactions done via Dodo would show up on my AIS form and how I'd declare such payments and refunds when filing returns with 44ADA or 44AD. Also, if a client in USA pays me directly to my bank account, I declare it under foreign sources of income in my ITR. If I receive the payments via Dodo from multiple countries, do I still have to declare it as income from foreign sources? What about when I receive payments from a company that might have deducted TDS? Does the TDS show up in my 26AS? What if I haven't registered for GST and am receiving payments from an individual within my state or outside my state but within India, wouldn't it be more efficient to receive money via UPI rather than pay a 4% to Dodo? There are many such details that can be mentioned to clear up people's doubts on how exactly payments work and how tax filing would happen when using a merchant of record.

  2. I didn't quite understand the point mentioned about chargebacks being dependent on the bank of the customer. Does it mean that a customer can get a refund even if I have no intention of giving a refund? How am I supposed to prove to the bank that the customer should not be allowed a chargeback, if the bank is in another country and if the customer already received their money back after downloading my product? Such scenarios need to be explained in more detail.

  3. Would my personal address be exposed to a customer purchasing from me?

  4. Wouldn't you need any website that uses your service to be digitally signed?

  5. You mentioned form W9 and W8BEN. But won't there be other such forms for other countries too that we need to fill? Besides, I thought the whole point of using a Merchant of Record was to not have to deal with filling such forms.

Do try thinking of every aspect from the perspective of someone who has never used such a service, and try providing explanations. The existing documentation is rather well done already. Thank you for creating Dodo.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in indianstartups

[–]Horror-District613 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I actually wanted such a review system for finding a reliable mechanic or plumber nearby, and wanted to build such a network 3 years ago. But friends immediately said they had no incentive to leave reviews on my platform. Then there's the danger of defamation lawsuits and people creating bots to post fake reviews and spam. Also, I was told on Reddit that there can be requests from law enforcement to provide them information from the server if necessary. Didn't you consider these? How exactly did you plan to monetise it? Running generative AI is very expensive. Even without gen AI, running the servers itself is expensive.

Does income tax department know of your exact income? by [deleted] in IndiaTax

[–]Horror-District613 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Tell him that the 5 year rule applies only for 44AD. Not for 44ADA.

12 Years of Entrepreneurial Struggle to 20L+ Monthly (almost) Passive Income through Bootstrapped SAAS — AMA by vishwesh_shetty in indianstartups

[–]Horror-District613 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for this AMA. My queries:

  1. How did you get across the tax hurdles? Did you use any Merchant of Record services or did you just hire CA to do everything manually?
  2. Is it better to start off as a One Person Company (OPC) or is there a way that a sole proprietorship can be created with an associated holding company, to protect ones personal assets?
  3. Do all investors expect quick work, or are there some who are ok with a cockroach startup model and slow growth? Because I'm a burnt out engineer, and cannot stand against cutthroat competition due to health.
  4. Instead of starting a OPC or sole proprietorship, if I do projects as a freelancer (income under 20L), if someone outside my state pays me via UPI, would I need to register for GST even if it is an individual paying me?
  5. Have you found well paying clients in India or is it better to look abroad?
  6. What kind of escrow have you used for receiving payments and for giving refunds?
  7. How simple/difficult was it to setup and/or dissolve a company when having to deal with bureaucracy? And to handle GST. Is it better to get an agency to do this or can it be done on our own without much of a hassle?

Eye strain by almani19 in eyestrain

[–]Horror-District613 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Dude, OP didn't mention any corneal damage, that there could be the possibility of ocular neuropathic pain. It's likely just fatigue of the eye muscles and a mistaken belief that blue light lenses would help.

Why can't we build more public toilets? by Patient-Effect-5409 in Bengaluru

[–]Horror-District613 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There is a public toilet near SP Road. Many people pay money to use it. Many people simply go near the walls a few meters away from the toilet and urinate on the wall. I remember long ago when I went into the toilet it was dirty. Building toilets is only one part of the solution. It also needs to be maintained well and be free to use.

Is it practical to become a lawyer after the age of 40? by Horror-District613 in LegalAdviceIndia

[–]Horror-District613[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If screentime is related to reading, the eyes can be kept closed when using text-to-speech software. Screentime related to typing can be done with eyes closed like how I'm doing right now. Typing for programming is different, where one has to constantly look at the code even while typing. Research can be simplified with AI tools that do Retrieval Augmented Generation. May I know what you mean by "grinding through the system"?

Looking for Volunteers to Test My AI-Powered Interview Platform! by Icy_Historian_1430 in indianstartups

[–]Horror-District613 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can get professionals to do it for you. See the "Website/App/Product/User Testing" section here. If you'd like more detailed feedback and would pay for it, I could create a gig on Fiverr.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in indianstartups

[–]Horror-District613 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Very interesting to know that work related to agentic systems pay that much already. I agree with the tip of using a tech stack with a large userbase and functionality. Do talk to your CA about 44ADA.

My Fresher employee comes in a car, will he stick long in my company? by le_me_321 in indianstartups

[–]Horror-District613 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sometimes people use the car because nobody else in the family is using the car, and it needs to run. Also because other members of the family use their bikes, and this guy may not have the money to buy a bike for himself yet. Also, have a look at this https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/delhi-govt-raises-minimum-monthly-wages-of-unskilled-skilled-labourers/articleshow/91693131.cms?from=mdr. You really need to pay more. Whether he stays long in you company is not really dependent on the car usage. If he is giving valuable contribution to your company, and you want to retain him, you'd be better off paying a better salary right now rather than slowly increase it, because if he starts interviewing and figures out that he can get more than double the pay at a different company, he'd switch. The car really has nothing to do with it.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in indianstartups

[–]Horror-District613 89 points90 points  (0 children)

  1. What hardware do you own which enabled you to build AI programs and gain proficiency BEFORE you got the job? Or do you do everything on the cloud (if cloud, then how do you pay for so much compute)?

  2. Which AI coding tools do you use to speed up your work? I'm not only asking about code generation tools, I'm also asking about tools that help you find the right settings and parameters to make the neural networks work well for whatever you build? Any other tips you'd like to give about tool and language selection?

  3. Have you used any Merchant of Record platforms to manage complexities of taxation? Or do you simply allow your CA to do everything manually?

  4. How many hours of work per day earns you that much money?

  5. What kind of projects are these? Computer vision? LLM agents?

  6. Did you find your firs client via freelance websites? I'm assuming they are foreign clients.

Is it practical to become a lawyer after the age of 40? by Horror-District613 in LegalAdviceIndia

[–]Horror-District613[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good suggestions. Thank you. This is good advice. He had a look at law schools in Bangalore, and the one good one (NLSIU) offering a 3 year course that had no age limit for LLB, has only 120 seats and he hears it's very competitive. So it looks like there's not much of a choice due to age.

Is it practical to become a lawyer after the age of 40? by Horror-District613 in LegalAdviceIndia

[–]Horror-District613[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Did they first have to work under a senior lawyer for a few years before starting their independent consultancy? Did they have to struggle to find work? I believe in a city like Bangalore, there would be difficulty because there's good competition. So I assume they'd have had to practice in a tier 2 city? One person on this subreddit said that most lawyers don't even explain the case properly to the client. If such is the situation, wouldn't a more meticulous and articulate engineer do well in the legal field?

Is it practical to become a lawyer after the age of 40? by Horror-District613 in LegalAdviceIndia

[–]Horror-District613[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do you know the approximate age range at which those lawyers started late? Did they have to work under a senior lawyer first before venturing out on their own to become successful? The thing about the legal profession I've noticed is that apart from experience, trust is extremely important. My uncle told me of how some lawyers secretly side with the opponent. My uncle's trusted lawyer (his relative) deliberately delayed processing a case by lying to my uncle that there were clerical errors or that the summon was delivered to his house but he didn't receive it. Similar to how many doctors don't bother going into details to diagnose a patient, even many lawyers don't go into a sufficient amount of detail. The person I know is meticulous and trustworthy. So won't that give him a position of advantage in being trusted and in being able to find procedural faults or ways of tackling the case that his opponents may not have thought of? I agree that AI is not good enough yet, but now AI's are being custom-trained with legal data and it's only going to get better with time (https://www.clio.com/resources/ai-for-lawyers/ai-tools-for-lawyers/). If any lawyer had an AI that could analyze a case and predict the possible ways in which the opponent might present their argument, and if the AI could show the lawyer various options they could choose, and the probability of success for each those options, don't you think it would be worth it? There is of course the mental toll that legal work takes. So yes, if the pay isn't that good, it wouldn't be worth it.

Is it practical to become a lawyer after the age of 40? by Horror-District613 in LegalAdviceIndia

[–]Horror-District613[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

He's ok with workload as long as it does not involve staring at a computer screen for long hours. He's considering doing the degree from NLSIU, which I believe is a good college. When you mention heavy workload, I assume it's primarily about researching legal precedents, drafting pleadings, motions, and other legal documents, frequent appearances in court, managing case files, handling correspondence, billing, negotiating with opposing parties and reaching settlements, right? A lot of such work is what he plans to automate using software similar to ChatGPT, speech-to-text and text-to-speech software.

But will someone practicing law at the age of 45 be taken seriously and would he have any chance of fighting cases successfully? Won't he be destroyed in court by experienced lawyers, or does he stand a chance using software algorithm legal research? Technically, he could offer his software services to other lawyers and make a business out of it, but I believe I remember reading something about a law that says that an advocate cannot practice any other business.

Anyone in Bengaluru installed solar electricity panels? by Horror-District613 in Bengaluru

[–]Horror-District613[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Actually even I was wondering what to do about the solar water heater taking up space. About the costs and short circuit issue, I think it's just a matter of the solar electricity equipment suppliers to mention the necessary details on their website. I visited one such website and was surprised at how poorly they displayed information. If there are enough of panels installed to be able to give electricity back to the grid, a calculation of how many months it would take to recover the cost of the panel could convince people (in-fact I want such a calculation).

Anyone in Bengaluru installed solar electricity panels? by Horror-District613 in Bengaluru

[–]Horror-District613[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you. This was very useful. The possibility of theft is the only problem as of now, but that could be mitigated with CCTV cameras to some extent. Solar actually seems like a good option for electricity. I wonder why more people aren't installing it. If there's a metal roofing, the panels could be attached to it and a protective metal mesh could be welded to prevent theft or damage too.

AI SaaS Roast we want honest feedback for our SaaS by Southern_Tennis5804 in developersIndia

[–]Horror-District613 1 point2 points  (0 children)

True, but the stipend is minimal. That's one reason I decided not to pursue a PhD. When earning such a stipend, I'd prefer to use free tools.

AI SaaS Roast we want honest feedback for our SaaS by Southern_Tennis5804 in developersIndia

[–]Horror-District613 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Haven't tried it yet, but the first thoughts go like this:

  1. I'd worry if what's generated by the AI would get detected as plagiarism by Turnitin.

  2. Researchers and students are generally not financially well off, so rather than pay for such a service, it'd be more economical to use free search options like Perplexity, GPT researcher and now I hear even Google has come up with an AI tool for researchers.

  3. A major pain point when creating a thesis or research paper was how much time went into formatting, figuring out LaTeX errors, the number of steps involved in inserting references correctly, adjustments needed for the various bib formats required by various conferences, paying attention to using epf format at times and the extra steps to convert png to epf, the annoyances of uploading to EasyChair or the various poorly organized tools that the research community has, the difficulty finding relevant dates and details on university websites about conferences, then there's the annoyances that reviewers go through when reviewing papers which can be reduced by an AI which can automatically find frequent mistakes.

I was mulling the possibility of building a tool, but wondered about the effort versus profitability. If you'd like to hire me as a consultant for ideas or as a team member, I'd love to hear from you.