Art Project Idea: Customize the headphones

I am bored of the same old black head phones with no character. There are many colorful ones offered but they are expensive and too jazzy. I decided to customize my sennheiser hd202 head phones..

I did not finalize on the design yet but here is some literature I collected on head phone customization.

How to dismantle sennheiser hd202: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nhG20SUbYU

Website on how to customize the head phones: http://www.customcans.co.uk/blog/?cat=3

Steps:
1. Finalize on a simple design
2. List all the raw material and equipment
3. Order everything from the list
4. Write down step by step process on how to do it.
5. Implement each step.
6. Gloat.:)

Art of Living YES+ Experience.

I have been to this art of living course. I want to share this experience with my family.  I was very skeptical going into it.. I frankly went as a part of my new motto "When was the last time you did something for the first time". This would be something different I thought would go in to this portfolio of NY activities. 

It was a very pleasant surprise. What the course taught me, is not just a meditation technique which I was expecting.. They teach Few very simple and basic principles to live by. Lot of overlap to what Dad teaches us.. I was surprised with the similarities. Dad goes much deeper.

This is not religious scripts. Just few simple things we tend to miss in our every day life. But the way it was demonstrated was very (for a lack of better word) Awesome. Every piece of advice was disseminated by a demonstration or an activity which you are a part of. I mean they make you run around like kids, I haven't felt like this in a long time.. I remember not wanting to come home from a summer camp in sixth grade when I was in the I cried on my way home from camp.The last day of the class made me feel the same. The community is what first attracted me to the organization, its young and vibrant. I think it still is the best aspect of the organization.

I know meditation is an awesome thing to do but I never got around to do it, In the course AOL teaches us this signature move (Pun intended) I think they hype up the uniqueness to create an air of mystery around it. Its nothing but simple rhythmic breathing But I get the point, when you take simple steps like that and create an ancient, mystery and special aura around it. This mystery aura makes people want it. For me I think it will provide a structure to practice meditation under. 

Pleasure vs Enjoyment..from Flow

I am reading Flow at the current moment. I came across this wonderful concept regarding difference between pleasure and enjoyment.

I used to think they are the same but the author made an imporant distinction. Pleasure can be felt with out enjoyment with help of chemicals but enjoyment can only be experienced with investment of attention.

Enjoyment leads to learning. Another wonderful example he pointed out is the learning and enjoyment experienced by children, how growth and enjoyment are correlated.

Same person grows up to be an adult who seek extrinsic reward for everything they learn and there stops his learning, hence enjoyment and pleasure before his only positive experience. 

Several succesful people have expressed the same notion in their interviews and biographies. For example Steve jobs learnt caligraphy with no expectation of extrinsic reward, he did not know any way caligraphy would benefit him not did he even get college credit for doing it. He  just enjoyed learning caligrpahy. But later on in this skill formed the basis of type setting in PCs..

Another exmaple from my life is, I was blogging about ODI and wanted to start a professional blog, because I enjoyed the experience of blogging not as much as I would like to but writing creates a sense of flow and it makes me happy. My friend asked why do you do it, do you get any monitory benefit. I never thought about why until he asked I could never put a finger on it but when I read abotu flow.. I could make it out. 

Apps for Small businesses- Services business Idea

This is an email I wrote to my close friend Prasoon on Aug 2012

Business Idea.

Goal: To provide business apps (Email, surveys, Calender, Gtalk for connecting with customers, CRM) to un-served business customers such as mom and pop stores.

Every small businesses like the mom and pop srotes would like to have their own business email addresses like service@superlaundry.com, orders@cornerestaurant.com it gives them a professional demeanor.

What stops them from getting these things? because every small thing like hosted email costs money if they want something decent. Rest of the things are crappy just used to forward emails to their personal addresses.

We can provide cost free business apps like GMAIL, GOOGLE CALENDER, GTALK and Several CRM solutions (to maintain their contacts) for FREE to these customers..

Actually Google does this it provides everything free for upto 10 users. Anything more they will have to pay.

CALENDER: They can have their own google calender which they can publish events notifications and people can subcribe to their calender.

GTALK: Maintain personal realtionships with customer and be available to answer any questions, instead of revealing your personnel address.

CRM: Many CRM solutions can easily integrate with their mail and calender which are free where they can run their campaings, etc..

I implemented a solution like this for a non-profit synagouge instead of paying to a third party developer I just created it in a jiffy and they have ti for free.

Think about it.

The Experience project - Record your first time.

I came across a quote a while ago and it really started to influence me. You might have read it.

"When was the last time you did something for the first time"

So, I started  going down the memory lane and started to jot down all the shit I tried out in the City, I was impressed but I had a feeling I might have missed something. For  few activities I blogged down how I felt and I missed out on lot of activities. So, Other than blogging I did not find any platform where I can record an experience. Facebook timeline demonstrated the value of people's proclivity to travel down the memory lane and resurrecting their old thoughts, events etc.. May be people would want to record their experience or not. I don't know. But personally I feel, if given an easy platform to record how they felt, the emotional simulation, dopa-mine rush, etc.. may be they would want to. I am not necessarily saying write an essay but simply record the event with the help of a few questions in Q&A format with a photo or a video.. This way they can travel down the memory lane and reminisce.

The business aspect would come from exposing them to the experience of the day. Advertise clubs etc..

Thinking back about it..It will not be an experience recording platform but a community which drives people to experience new things. 

One way to get inspired to do participate in new experience is to read others experience or  just reminisce on your experience bring back that first time feeling which will push you do more. 

As the science of happiness says best to way to spend money to buy experience why not immortalize it.

Letters from Dad - Quotes for the day

Dear children
Good after noon
1. Life is 10% what you make it and 90% how you take it.
2. The future depends on What you do in the present.
3. CAN I.  Constant and never ending improvement
4. Success is the sum of small efforts repeated
Loving Dad
Sent from BlackBerry® on Airtel

Letters from Dad - Letter 1

To lead a happy and progressive life certain important beliefs shall be recorded read and reread till they are imbedded in subconscious mind and become habit.

I give here below some points I believe:
1. Gayatri Manthram- ParamAtma, God, Cosmic Energy, Universal Energy, by whatever name called Omni-present, Omnipotent, Destroyer of all sins created all the three worlds Pathal loka, Bhoo loka, Swarga loka, Gods Human beings and living and non living things and every physical manifestations.
2. Atma : I am the Atman and not the physical body and part of the trillions of atmas of  all the worlds and my source is from Paramatma.  Hence I have all powers of Paramatma, once I realize the Paramathma
3. Happiness is the main thing in life. Happiness is a journey while success is a destination, one should understand the difference. Keys to happiness are Contentment and Love. While you are content with what you have you should strive hard for achieving higher goals. Love yourself and love others
4. Forgive yourself and forgive others. Do not hurt yourself and not hurt others. Never get angry. Remove even the traces of anger from your heart and mind.
5. Do not get disturbed with failures troubles difficulties losses disrespect. After all they are part of life. They make you strong
6. Give to the society whatever you can within your limitation it will come back to you and your family multiple times. The greatest satisfaction lies in giving.
7. Nature has its own course. We have to just obey. Time heals everything and sets everything.
8. External factors have a greater role but we do not know. Fate and Free will coexist. But Free will is greater than Fate. You are the creator of your own destiny. Your attitudes and vision make your future. One  can make or break one's life.
9. Your vision however big can be made a reality. Positive attitude can make it possible. Take the past only for the purpose of review and to remove the mistakes. Take future only to fix direction targets and goals in life and prepare strategy and plan of action. Write down the plan and forget about the results of the future. Always live in present and act as per the strategy and plan. Enjoy every moment of life after all everything you leave here and leave. Only actions in the present are in your hands. Results are the automatic consequence of your actions.
10. Never compare yourself with others. If at all you want to compare it should be to make somebody as a role model. Always compare yourself with your past and see that there is progress year after year.
11. Never look to quantity, extent, volumes. Only look to quality and perfection. Quality of life is more important than quantity.
12. A true father-son relationship is without any 'AHANKAR'
13. 'No dream is impossible for achievement. Dream Big, Whatever the mind conceives and believes it can be achieved. If someone has achieved a miracle we can also achieve and excel the same. Otherwise Guinness world book of records would not have been broken. Believe in yourself'
Loving Dad
Sent from BlackBerry® on Airtel

First Impressions of biking in New York City.

I heard a lot about dangers of biking in NYC. So this built up a lot of anticipation and I did not take out bike for two weeks. The idea of riding along side of cars was a little terrifying but I got over and took out my bike for a spin. I think I chose one of busiest places in the busiest time Time square on a Saturday evening to bike in., later on I moved on less busier Chelsea. 

When I was riding through the blocks I faced the these Top three hurdles:

1. Taxis: they are the most irritating beings to cyclists, at least to me. I tend to ride on the extreme side of the road and the taxi pull up to pick up passengers with out even slightest consideration to existence of a cycle beside them. Annoying factor 1#.
2. Travelling Vagabonds: They walk on the middle roads and cycling paths with their fancy push carts. 
3. Pedestrians: When J walking pedestrians do not consider on coming cycles even when I have green light to pass through. 

Cyclists neither get the respect of an automobile or a pedestrian. 

Healthy Relationship with Work

Most parts of the article are taken from HBR blog post "The Thought Patterns of Success"

Step One: Identify Harmful thoughts, this is the trigger. Have an action plan. 

Step Two: Implant the helpful by talking out loud and 

Flawed Evaluation of Worth
Harmful	Helpful
I am important and of value because of what I achieve, produce or have. Therefore if I stop achieving, producing or having, my life no longer has value, meaning or purpose.	I am of value because of who I am, not what I do. I am a unique individual whose life has a special purpose regardless of what I earn, accomplish or own.
Perfect is the only option. Less than perfect is failure.	Perfection is an ideal abstraction created by my mind that can not exist in the reality of an imperfect physical world. I can choose to adapt my evaluation methods so that less-than-perfect is still seen as a success.
I am only as good as my last achievement. If I stop or rest or don't perform to the same or better level in the future, I will lose everything.	Every life experience offers an opportunity for growth. Each day, I can do my best, correct my mistakes, and learn for the next time I meet a similar challenge. My past provides a secure foundation for my future.

Sense of Over-Responsibility
Harmful	Helpful
If everything doesn't go according to plan and make everyone happy, it's my fault. I should have planned more, done more, been more.	Activities rarely go exactly according to plan and often times, no possible scenario could make everyone happy. I take responsibility for the areas within my control but release responsibility for those outside of my control, including unforeseen circumstances and others' emotional responses.
I can only rest without guilt once all the work is done. If I stop any sooner, I am lazy, selfish and irresponsible.	There will always be more work to do. By choosing to rest at reasonable intervals, I increase my productivity, accomplish more, enjoy life and stop feeling resentful toward others who take breaks.
My needs are the lowest priority. I will only get enough sleep, eat well, exercise and do activities I enjoy once everyone else has their needs — and most of their wants — met.	It's good for me to be considerate of others' needs, but I also have a legitimate need for proper self-care. When I take time to nurture my physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health, I have a greater capacity to truly connect with and support others.

Insecurity in Relationships
Harmful	Helpful
Everyone is watching and evaluating me. If I don't appear to meet their standards for outward success, they will think badly of me.	I can choose to not allow my perception of other people's opinions of me dictate my opinion of myself. I am free to live as I please and make the choices that are right for me.
I'm bad at forming and maintaining relationships. I can never make my friends and family happy so why should I try to have a life outside of work?	It may not be easy for me at first, but I can learn how to form and maintain better relationships. I may not always meet everyone's expectations, but I have a better chance of success when I make a good effort.
I feel in control at work because certain actions predictably produce specific results. It's too much of a risk to venture into areas where I don't always know what to do, and I can't count on other people's response to my actions.	I can choose to stay in a place of security and isolation, or I can choose to open my life up to others. I may experience some loss of control, but ultimately I create the possibility of great joy in true relationship with others.

Phone Dock for Android

Even after the release of ADK. There is not much development in the android accessory list... What I often feel missing is a conversion of my android phone to desk phone. There are so many accessories for iPhone which Apple made it possible by conscious decision of having a single form of connector. Is Google caring about this problem, I hate Apple's closed ecosystem but it seems to work for the regular consumers. If Android does not take conscious steps to solve the problem of standardization, it going to go the Linux way.Enough of my rant, lets talk business.

What I need is an accessory which makes my Android phone a desk phone. How do we do it?

1. We can use ADK so I can connect to my phone via micro USB cable, Since android does not have a standard connector like apple, Lets limit to most widely available connector in Android community which is Micro USB cable. We can also use Bluetooth connector for the same too. 
2. I need the headset component. I can do this one two ways.
1. Use a standard phone which has RJ-11 jack which can connect to the accessory. So the accessory will be essentially a dock with a RJ-11 connector.
2. Create Dock with handset in built.  

 I am personally a fan of creating a universal accessory which can connect any phone. I am not a phone designer so I will leave it to the pros.
So essentially we need make an accessory  which can convert the RJ-11 signals into ADK commands.
Seems simple enough but is it possible?
Short answer technically, yes......
But is there a market for it?
When we Google for desktop conversions for the phone. I can see many many similar accessories for iPhone. So there must be market right why would so many people produce it then, wouldn't android users be interested in something similar? Yes,
But the usual mumbo jumbo of it not supporting all the versions, only latest versions can be supported etc..
I believe if we give a couple of more months all the old versions of Android will be eventually replaced by the newer version and it will be eventually easier for manufacturers to develop the same for Android.

What I believe is Business/Entrepreneurship ?

I believe Business (I use business and entrepreneurship interchangeably) is Art. Yes, you heard me right. A work of art involves creation of value/beauty out of nothing or multiple things of relatively lower value.  A business man creates value purely utilizing his intellect and skill.

Archery Ranges in NY

After spending tonnes of time online I found a couple of ranges that are close to people living in NYC... Reviews coming soon...

Unfortunately, they are either in Queens or in Staten Island. Nevertheless something is better than nothing.

Location one:
http://bigapplearchery.com/Home_Page.html
Flushing, Queens -- 39th Ave. & 171st St.
(west of Utopia Pkwy, north of Northern Blvd.)
Telephone: (718) 461-1756

Location Two:
http://www.archeryny.com/homepage.htm
95-11 101Ave.
Ozone Park, NY. 11416
Telephone: 718-845-9280
Fax: 718-848-1763
Email: info@prolinearchery.com

Location Three:
http://www.victoryarcheryclub.net/
283 St. Mary's Avenue
Staten Island, NY 10305
Telephone: (718) 439-5810

Here is something they don't teach you in school: Wallet Organization.

When I first read Nudge. I realized the importance of product placement, power of rewards and making useful choices easier to make.
I wanted to slim down my wallet to ease the bulge in my pants (Stop that thought right there.). I sat down to the chore of organizing it. Slowly it all came back to me a epiphany. Here were some of my goals,

1. Wallet should be slimmer but I need everything with me, No compromises.
2. Arrange my wallet in such a way that its easier for me make good choices, like picking up that Debit card among my several credit cards.
3. Make most commonly used cards fastest to access (80 - 20 Rule) 

Firstly, 

They can make all the noise about the electronic wallet, phone replacing everything. Its not here yet. But how can move some of the bulk from your wallet to phone? Get rid of all the cards which you rarely use but you need them, like all the rewards cards. A simple picture will do. But wait, isn't it hard to find them among all the photos of the cute/weird dogs, cats, girls. I used to Evernote to organize the pictures of my AAA card, B&N Card and Super market rewards cards in a more book called cards. Mission one accomplished.

Secondly,

Those wily Discover Card designers. I found myself using Discover very often, but why? I started to think about it, they made it easier for me to find a card. Edges of the card are painted in orange so when you are looking at an array of cards with white edges this is bright and easy to spot. It gains your immediate attention. So I did that bastard away. I placed my debit card and Metro card on the top so its easily visible and quickly accessible. This has significantly changed my spending habits.

Lastly,

Even when there was enough space for me keep all the cards readily accessible I hid them away in interiors making it harder for but the fact I am carry them all the time with me, made it convenient enough for me to get to them when I wanted them.