Author Archive for Nainil Chheda

Books with pictures help me learn faster

Published by Nainil Chheda on January 3, 2012 in Life. 0 Comments

I am highly motivated to read topics of interests to me. I guess I am no different than the rest of the world.

However if you give me a book or an article on a topic for which I don’t have much of an interest, I will still read it if it has pictures/graphics.

I guess I am a lot inclined towards infographics.

Definition from Wikipedia:

Information graphics or infographics are graphic visual representations of information, data or knowledge. These graphics present complex information quickly and clearly,[1] such as in signs, maps, journalism, technical writing, and education. With an information graphic, computer scientists, mathematicians, and statisticians develop and communicate concepts using a single symbol to process information.

Like we know information on videos is the future of knowledge, I am predicting, info graphics to be the second best thing as compared to knowledge sharing after videos/podcasts.

My motivation or liking towards books with images came from my childhood days when I was introduced to Tinkle and Amar Chitra Katha. Not only was I motivated to read, these books have taught me a number of things which act as my principle guidelines for my daily life. These stories always had a moral.

Even today when I try to read the Wall Street Journal or the New York Post, I am more inclined to read any article which has a graphic/image associated to it. I guess as mentioned earlier in my previous posts, I learn from observation, I tend to use my right brain more when I read and try to understand things.

I guess all my post is trying to say is: I have reading habits of a child and I may have an attention span of a moth but I am clear about myself and the way I behave. I guess this is the most important realization that one needs. Understand yourself (your strengths and weaknesses) and you will be happy like me.

My last few days of 2011

Published by Nainil Chheda on January 2, 2012 in Life. 0 Comments

Each year I take the last week off from work. This is mainly to get myself re-organized and re-charge myself. This year (2012) too, I have already applied for a vacation days for the last week of the year.

A few things that I did during the last 7 days:

  1. Re-organize our basement. Keeping things in order is not quite as easy as one thinks.
  2. Donate all old clothes/shoes and other items to Goodwill (http://www.goodwillmass.org/) . Did you know you can get tax deduction benefit by donating to GoodWill?
  3. Me and my brother (Monil), we are moving towards eBooks and online reading. This year, We donate almost 50+ books to Worcester Public Library . I am a frequent visitor the the library. I like their services and activities that they promote. Their self-service book checkout system is one of the coolest I have seen. Just scan your library card, and bring your books near the kiosk. That’s it. You’ll receive a print out of the books that you just scanned. It takes hardly a few seconds to check out books at the library.
  4. I finished reading: Letters to Steve: Inside the E-mail Inbox of Apple’s Steve Jobs . I like iPad’s Kindle app. It helps me highlight and add notes to the important text. Plus, I can sync it with my Kindle 4 PC app too.
  5. Our kids (Sara & Samaira) are more of an explorer these days. They like to crawl places without us knowing. So we installed Baby Gates and Electrical Socket Blockers. Safety is very important when it comes to kids in the house.

Spending time with the family was my number 1 goal during this time. However, I did keep myself partially busy in planning goals for 2012. These days I live for my family and work for my job :-) . I like this change.

2012: A year of goals setting and execution

Published by Nainil Chheda on January 1, 2012 in Life. 0 Comments

2011 has been a great year for me (both personally and in my professional life). Like all my previous efforts, I have had my share of successes and failures in meeting my goals/expectations.

Personal Life:

  1. I was blessed with two beautiful daughters on 21st March 2011 (Sara and Samaira).  They have brought great  joy in our lives. Even today, I am amazed by the way they surprise me. I realized, sleep is a very rare commodity once you have kids (at least in the beginning)… ;-)
  2. For almost 5 months my wife (Avni) and my daughters were in India. This period was an eye opener for me. I missed them but it allowed me to be productive in a different way. It gave me time to rethink my goals in life.  I was paying more attention to detail. I started to re-evaluate my current state and began to set achievable goals.
  3. In these 5 months, I attended a lot of conferences and seminars. Made new friends and started networking seriously. I was introduced to Brian Tracy and I can tell you, his writing and videos have had a serious impact on me.
  4. I visited India to bring back my wife and kids.  My brother (Monil) and my sister-in-law (Esha) accompanied us too. This was the time when the whole family was together. I know my parents had one of the best moments with all of us.

Professional Life:

My professional life has always been exciting. I have always tried to get things done (sometimes by following the protocol, sometimes by finding a work-around). Every day I learn something new when at work. At work, I have already defined the goals for the year and our team will together strive to achieve them.

This year, me and my wife received our Green Card. This ended the 4.5 years of wait during the processing period. It gives you a great sense of freedom and excitement once you have your Green Card. You are free to take more risks.

2012: The year ahead – resolution

  1. I have set a goal in mind (to grow professionally and personally). To accomplish it, I’ll be setting many small goals daily. Each day, I’ll be moving forward towards the big goal.
  2. I’ll be spending more time with my family and stay healthy.
  3. Like last year, I’ll be interacting a lot more with everyone I know. Quote: Personal contacts is the key to success.
  4. I’ll be blogging/micro-blogging about my daily experiences in life and will try to engage my friends and near ones
  5. I’ll be updating my website – http://www.nainil.com (layout & content)
  6. The words: personal financing, wealth creation and real-estate will have a new meaning to me this year.
  7. I will be working smart! Delegate what I can and focus on the core issue.
  8. I have observed that success loves speed. Starting immediately, what I do will be done with perfection but at a fast pace.

I guess one thing that I along with everyone suffers is the lack of insight on “What are you trying to make happen?”. But this year, I will be focusing on this question to move forward with my goals for the year.  Welcome 2012!

5 reasons why taking the last week of the year off was a good thing.

Published by Nainil Chheda on January 5, 2011 in Life. 0 Comments

Every year, I try to take the last week off from. Here are my 5 reasons to do so:

  1. Refresh: Taking the last week of the year simply helps me refresh my thoughts. It’s a very clean way of taking a break and starting out fresh for the new year.
  2. Re-Organize: By the end of the year I sometimes feel I have a lot of small items which I need to finish and mark completed. This time gives me an opportunity to take care of all these nitty gritty items.
  3. Completion: Every year, I like to look back and list all that I have accomplished. I like it when things are done so that I can cherish it for sometime and them move forward. It’s like a gift to myself. I was once told, “You should treat yourself once in a while”. This keeps me motivated.
  4. Communication: One of my goals as always has been to be more socially active. This time of the year, I believe my communication increases by means of social networking channels and the usual humane way.
  5. Plan: The new year is ahead of me and I can now plan things for the future. These are the things that are under my control. I choose to plan what I want to accomplish and my new years resolutions take into effect here. (Read More: Looking back at 2010 and Thinking Forward for 2011)

This year, I have already planned my vacation for the year by Day 4 of 2011. I plan to take the last week off again.

An event that made me even closer to my family

Published by Nainil Chheda on January 3, 2011 in Life. 0 Comments

I am not an early person. I like to work late at night. However, I was up at around two o’clock this morning. There was an incident in our house that made us all panic. Not giving much details about the incident it involved: FootSteps, Security Alarm System and Cops.

It was a false alarm.

However, during this period, everyone of us inside the house (including myself, my brother, my wife and sister-in-law) were shocked. We were trying to gather our thoughts and give each other the strength and support. We worked together to make sure everyone of us were safe. We cared.

What this incident made us realize is:

  1. Security Alarm Systems : They play an important role in protecting a house and giving you a safe sleep.
  2. Cops: They really work hard and they are very prompt in responding to an emergency call
  3. Family: If you have a good bond, one becomes even closer to it’s family members when there is the slightest trouble in the family. Everyone likes to be close to you when you are happy. But only family members and true friends stick up to you and give you the support you need to pass through the moment.

I am very lucky to have such a great family. So, I guess for me: It’s not the best of the times that make me feel closer, but it’s the most difficult of times that helps me realize how much all of us care about each other. This is day 3 in 2011. :-)

Persistence – Everyone needs to learn it’s meaning.

Published by Nainil Chheda on January 2, 2011 in Management. 0 Comments

“Here’s the kid, calls me 59 days in a row says he wants to be a player. There ought to be a picture of you in the dictionary under persistence kid.” — Gordon Gekko (Wall Street – 1987)

Today (Sunday) I received a random phone call from someone who was offered a job in our company. He was trying to understand a few more details on the culture and wanted to know if it would be wise for him to work from our headquarters or would the satellite offices work fine for him as well.

Things to note:
1. I did not know this person
2. The person calls me after Googling me up and looked up my information from my website ( www.nainil.com )

Here is complete event in chronological order:

  1. Receive the phone call from a random person @ 10.50 a.m. – To get advise on the job offer he had already received from our company. Wanted to know what would be better: Working from our Headquarters or Remotely.
  2. I was a bit busy at that time and asked him to call me after half an hour to discuss the same.
  3. The person called me 90 minutes later @ 12.20 p.m. . He was already an hour late in calling me.
  4. This was the time I was to have my lunch. So I asked him to call me at 1.00 p.m. (Within 40 minutes)
  5. He was again late and called me half an hour later @ 1.30 p.m .
  6. I told him:
    1. You are the one in need of the information.
    2. You should honor the time I give you or else let me know of a different time that’s more suitable to you.
    3. It’s not polite to call someone who wants to help you and keep that person waiting for your call.
    4. I asked him to call me at 6:00 pm today evening
  7. I am amazed by this person’s sense of responsibility. He calls me at 9.40 pm. (which is 3 and half hours late).
  8. I told him:
    1. He was not being serious of what he wanted
    2. He was taking things for granted and thought people would work to his time even thought it should have been the other way.
    3. He needs to understand the value of time.
  9. He apologized of his mistake(s) and I spoke with him for a good 25 minutes after that; giving him the advice he needed.

This event made me realize, that in current time, people are being a lot more irresponsible and not focusing on getting the job done in time.

Here there are a couple of things I learned:

  1. Value Time: One should value his own and the time of the other party. If someone is taking the time to help you, don’t dis-honor that. My father always said to me: Time is money. Use it wisely.
  2. Correction: If you make mistake once, at least try to correct it the next time. Always accept your mistakes and apologize.
  3. Reflection: Consistent mistakes leads to a bad impression
  4. Chance: No matter how much of a mistake someone makes, always give the person another chance to improve and learn from his mistakes. This will make you more respectable and will help the other person in his time of need.

I hope todays experience teaches this young lad the value of time. I was however glad that this person did not give up even after me telling him that he was wrong in many ways. This is what is known as Persistence. (The quality of continuously pushing forward even when failure strikes).

The First Day of 2011

Published by Nainil Chheda on January 1, 2011 in Technology. 1 Comment

Today is the first day of an exciting new year (2011). Yesterday I wrote about how 2010 was for me and my resolutions and goals for 2011. One of my goals was to write about my day-to-day lessons learned and here it is for today.  (Read my post from yesterday)

Today, I tried something different. I prepared both my meals for the day. This might not sound like a great achievement, but believe me it is for me. I used to love cooking, but I have not cooked in the last 3 years. Since I got married, my wife’s been really good about keeping me out of kitchen. (Mainly because I take almost twice the time and use up 3 times the vessels while cooking).

Meal 1: Spinach Curry
Meal 2: Curd Rice (South-Indian Style)

My first encounter with cooking was almost 7 years ago when my mother was training me how to cook just before my visit to USA for my studies (Temple University – Masters in Information Systems). There were 2 things she taught me:

1. Salt is a very important ingredient in food. Use it wisely.
2. You don’t need all ingredients to make something edible and tasty.

So today after 3 years of being away from cooking, I realized:
1. My Spinach Curry was missing some ingredients, but I used other alternatives and prepared the meal.
2. I don’t like food when it has a lot of salt (salty food).  Sometimes, I choose to prepare food with less salt in the fear of ruining the food. (Others that need more salt can always choose to add more if they need to).

These two items make me realize a few things about my fresh start for the year 2011:
1. I am already ready to try new things (cooking in this instance)
2. I am not afraid to find out a way to solve my problem (trying alternative ingredients in this case)
3. I am still careful about things that can make or break something (careful in adding more salt here)

With this I conclude, I am still a good cook (or may be it’s beginners luck ;-) ). However, for 2011, I see myself taking a couple of risks and trying out new things to find a resolution.

Looking back at 2010 and Thinking Forward for 2011

Published by Nainil Chheda on December 31, 2010 in Life. 0 Comments

We all know that it is hard to grow up but as per my understanding it is even harder to grow up after you realize you have grown up. It hit me when I realized I was 28 in 2010; married for 3 years, had a steady job for 5 years; and I could never keep up with the passing time. Even today as I dictate this blog (using my Dragon NaturallySpeaking), I many a times wonder what have I done this year.

My goal in what I do is not that of a short-term but a long-term future plan that will help me, my family, and the community. When I ask myself “What have I done this year?”, I’m referring to things that have impacted me in ways that have improved my learning skills, my thought channel and those things that have impacted my family and my surroundings as a whole.

Superman once told “with more power comes more responsibilities”.  I believe with time passing by and the continuous changes that come through it is not necessary that one would have more power but definitely your responsibilities would have increased.

Here, I am going to recap the events that have been impactful and memorable during the year (2010):

Family

  1. I went to India after three years for my brothers wedding. This was by far the most meaningful visit to India I’ve had in my seven years of state in the United States of America. ( Read More: My visit to India – May 2010 ).
  2. I made a mistake. I’ve made a couple of mistakes, however this one strikes out the most. Just before my brothers wedding I had left my wife’s Visa expire. This was a pure case of carelessness by me. I should have been on top of such important matters like making sure the Visa is current and not expired. Due to this mistake of of mine we had to postpone my brother’s wedding by almost 2 and half to three months. Sorry.
  3. My parents visited us this summer and it was an enjoyable visit.  It had been a long time since everyone from our family was together under one roof.  It was the perfect time. My brother was married and his wife had arrived and was trying to settle down and learn our family culture. I have always said that parents and family guidelines are the most important things in the upbringing of a good family. ( Read More: Family Guidelines ).

Business:

  1. This year in 2010 during our premier national users conference which was held in Florida, I was voted MVE ( Most Valued Employee) in our company eClinicalWorks. I’m very proud of this. However, there is something more than being proud of, it is the sense of satisfaction that I received when others voted for me. They cared for me. Even my stay in Florida was made special (I have special dietary needs – Jainism).
  2. We redesigned our website – www.eliteral.com
  3. I’ve now learned to work smart ( not just work hard ).
  4. My product and industry knowledge has improved significantly for the healthcare domain.
  5. I presented on health care and patient privacy during one of the conferences.This was a good experience for me when I realized that my presentation skills are not as bad as I had had rated them. I even got a few laughs. (Read: Walking the dog by John L. Wright, MD.)

Personal

  1. Every evening after I am back from work, I take some time to read about things that are not related to my field of study or business.  A simple reason for this is I believe personal development is very important in an individual’s life and I don’t believe that a persons life should be confined to work alone. I also gain a lot of satisfaction when I read poems. (Read: A Senior Anthology of Poetry – Macmillan Publication).
  2. Website Development: This year I launched 3 websites:
    1. www.dns.co.in – DNS Management & Tools Website
    2. www.pqr.in – URL Shortener
    3. www.newyearideas.com – New Year Ideas
  3. Community Development:
    1. Kojain.com – I’m redesigning and improving the website layout, navigation and user interface.  I’m also providing our Kutchi community in North America an interface to search other members and help them collaborate using website. (Read More: http://www.kojain.com/NewsLetters/201012.pdf)

Here are my goals / resolutions for 2011 (KISS: Keeping it Short and Simple):

  1. Personal Life: Spend more time with the family and stay healthy.
  2. Website Development: I will be launching a couple of the websites during this year. (Announcements and Launches will be disclosed later)
  3. Speech Recognition: I will be using Dragon Naturally Speaking for most of my blog dictation and article writing.
  4. Jainism: I’ll be collaborating with others in the Jain Religion to develop a website on Jainism.
  5. Management & Life: I’ll be posting lessons learned in my day-to-day life on my blog for everyone to share.
  6. Backups: Try to encourage my friends and others to backup their data.
  7. Social Life: I will be more active on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

I make a ton of promises and/or resolutions like everyone else. I try to stick to them most of the times. But some times, I fall through the cracks and have known to loose focus on areas which I feel are too easy for me and I tend to be lazy to complete them.

Today, I know I am living a good life. But I’ll strive to make it more meaningful and try to enjoy every moment of life. Welcome 2011.

My Journey to India – May 2010

Published by Nainil Chheda on June 7, 2010 in Life. 0 Comments

All that I write today is because of the need to share my love for my parents, family and India. After 3 years 3 months I visited India in May 2010 for my brother’s wedding (Reception Ceremony & Wedding Ceremony). It is a long time for anyone to visit one’s own country and it sure brought in some real great memories and experiences for me.

The first few days of me being in India were all about adjustment (including recovering from Jet Lag).

Adjustment to:
1. The weather (hot & humid)
2. The people (extremely socially active)
3. The inflation (high prices met with higher demand for goods and services)
4. The food (spicy, hot and greasy)

My parents tried to make me comfortable as much as possible and I tried to make adjustments to suite both ends.

Weather:
1. The weather in Mumbai was about 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Very hot and humid.
2. To keep myself cool, I drank plenty of water and fluids. Every day I used to drink Coconut Water Juice and other juices including Orange and Black Jamun.
3. At our place using an Air Conditioner every day at home is not considered a necessity. However, considering the weather change from Boston (60F when I left) to Mumbai (85-90F), using Air Conditioner at home was just a matter of choice.

People:
1. People in India are bound by a number of social interactions. What I mean by that is they have too many occasions/functions/parties/birthdays/reminders etc. to attend to. If you don’t attend or are not a part of an occasion, the other person feels hurt and might possibly give you an earful.
2. People care about you. They would make a point that you are well fed, and that your comfort is taken care of.
3. People are turning western and slowly but steadily their cultural habits are changing.
4. People are taking good care of their Maids & those that serve them. (May be because they fear the extra work they will have to do when not having a Maid)

Inflation:
1. The spending capacity of people in India has increased tremendously. What one family of 4 used to spend at a dinner (in a good restaurant) is now what a couple spends.
2. People in India want quick money. (90% of all that I know invest in Stocks)
3. Each shop that you go for shopping (be it clothes or jewelry) the store associate will ask you “How much are you willing to spend? Or what is your price range?”

Food:
1. Possibly one of the best things in India is the variety of food you get. Food tastes different in India. You like the sweetness of the food here.
2. People feed you as if you are not going to get to eat again. You are always offered a dessert at the beginning and at the end of the meal.
3. You will always like what your mother cooks in India and you will always eat the food that you won’t get in Boston (or anywhere else)

What I call adjustments (Weather, People, Inflation, and Food) is probably what I would also call as Life in India.

The Wedding:
1. Hosting a Wedding for 2000 people in India takes a lot of Planning and Patience.
2. Being on a short trip all of our shopping (clothes, jewelry etc) for the wedding is done within 7-10 days.
3. Wedding means you need to celebrate an occasion making sure everyone is happy and that you adjust to the needs of your guests and fellow family members.
4. Wedding celebration includes:
a) Mehendi Celebration – Coloring of hands/legs and body parts with Henna;
b) Sangeet Celebration – A time where both the bride and the groom family meet and sing songs for celebrating the occasion;
c) Main Wedding Ceremony – The priest weds the bride and the groom;
d) Reception Ceremony – To congratulate the newlywed members

The wedding was splendid. It brought back memories from my marriage. One thing that I now advise all those that are getting married is “Enjoy your wedding day”. During my wedding I was possibly lost in all that was happening that I couldn’t take enough time to look around and enjoy the day.

India:
1. (Mainly in Mumbai) every block that I visited had some sort of new building, new bridge or a new mall construction going on.
2. Prices of Land have increased extremely. I believe it’s a bubble and like all markets it will burst. After an upward trend there is definitely going to be a downward trend and prices of land will decrease.
3. Gold prices are at all time high
4. People have been brought up with “Savings” as their base. However lately they are spending more than they are earning
5. People have become choosy. Previously they had only a few selection choices, but now in any market segment they have hundreds of choices to make intelligent decisions.
6. Poor are becoming poorer and the rich are becoming richer.
7. Every retail item will be customized to fit your size/need.
8. Lots of people have ideas but not many have the courage to implement them.

Something’s that make you feel you are in India:
1. Sign on the back of a truck “Horn OK Please”
2. Sign on the back of a truck “Mera Bharat Mahan”
3. Driving without giving signals and Driving in the middle of the lane.
4. Sign in a store “Fixed Rate. No Guarantee. No Exchange. Eatables Not Allowed”
5. Sign on the Auto Rikshaw (Meter Box) “Don’t Touch Me”
6. Road Speed 30 Km/Hr – People Drive @ 65 Km/Kr

Some tips and memorable lessons that I was taught by my elders during this trip:
1. Learn to Adjust and Compromise and you will lead a fruitful life
2. Enjoy your life as you get chances because these will be your memorable times that you will remember for years to come
3. Exercise or at least take a walk to keep your body fit and fine. You will never know when the rust of time will make you incapable of being how you are today
4. In India, even a person that is not as educated as one is makes millions. What good is anyone one if he/she who has studied abroad with higher education but cannot beat the street smart.
5. Take risks. When you have get an opportunity take it as Opportunity strikes very softly.

What I have seen can be easily described as “Organized Chaos“. It is crowded, chaotic and full of interesting people, but you still love it. May be this trip was one of my most mature trip as I understood how I lived and what I miss the most.

LA-Tokyo Bridge

Published by Nainil Chheda on March 9, 2010 in Technology. 0 Comments

This is an image from Popular Science Magazine (www.popsci.com) that was documented on March 1999. It is interesting to me because that was the time when the thought was to connect everything and this image depicts that we have always imagined building bridges and connecting people, places and ideas.

“The Future Site: LA to Tokyo Bridge” tells me that “We live in interesting times”.

Note: LA to Tokyo is 9,251 miles.

Family Guidelines

Published by Nainil Chheda on January 2, 2010 in Technology. 0 Comments

In my early childhood years, there were some moments when I did not listen to my parents and did not like their decisions. Then I came to US and started to live without my parents for my Masters. That was when I missed my parents the most. My respect for them increased and I then realized “Parents are always correct”.

I am a very big fan of the quote(s) from the movie Godfather

  1. A man who doesn’t spend time with his family can never be a real man.
  2. Fredo, you’re my older brother, and I love you. But don’t ever take sides with anyone against the family again. Ever.
  3. Never tell anybody outside the family what you’re thinking again.

With my 28 years of binding with my family, I have inherited the following guidelines while learning from my family:

  1. Always respect your elders
  2. Never go against the family
  3. The parents are always correct when they give advice; even if you don’t like it
  4. (In Business & in Life) Never trust anyone other than family. Listen to everyone but don’t tell anyone what’s inside your head.
  5. There is no reason to be afraid if you are telling the truth
  6. Read to learn and not just to study
  7. From our childhood, we all know what is right and what is wrong. 
  8. Life is simple. We choose to make it complicated. Keep it simple
  9. Donate but “Anonymously”
  10. Visit your native place at least once a year
  11. Learn from observing. Work your way bottom up. This way you know how to manage people.
  12. Always respect those who cannot afford. These are the people which teach us life and show us the real value of money.
  13. Take a vacation with Family at least once a year. Enjoy Life!
  14. Stories that teach you values are stories you should pass on (share) and never forget.
  15. Never take any gifts
  16. Education should always be undertaken in one of the finest schools
  17. Never make fun of others. Everyone has feelings.
  18. Health is wealth. If there is no health, wealth does not matter. (Exercise, Green Vegetables, Fruits, Milk) *
  19. Lead by example;motivate others and don’t be evil (be nice).
  20. Stick to your principles.

Some quotes which I respect

  1. Cleanliness is next to Godliness
  2. Smile: God loves you
  3. Get up early; Work till late; Strike Oil.
  4. Simple Living, High Thinking

* Areas marked are those which I still need to implement more in my existing life.

These days when I look at my parents and my family, I realize that time does not wait for any one. I choose to spend as much time possible with them. By observing the “Family Guidelines”, I believe to have made a balanced decision in embracing values which I’ll be able to pass to the generations to come.

2010: The year ahead

Published by Nainil Chheda on January 1, 2010 in Technology. 0 Comments

The year 2008 has been extremely productive for me. I started focusing more on Personal & Social Development. My parents while visiting us gave me a great advice: They said that we are currently at a very young age. Our times spent at work are well recognized. However to become better than the rest, we must continue to learn and excel. It’s easy to learn at work but learning something more other than work is the real gift.

My activities & learning efforts in 2008 included:

  1. Got myself a new house (See Pictures)
  2. Discovered that I get a lot of satisfaction in activities that include “Organizational Development“
  3. Took more vacation time in my entire life than I have ever taken. [ Trip to Las Vegas, Trip to Myrtle Beach]
  4. Got myself a Google Picasa Premium account and organized my Photographs
  5. Organized my Family Contacts & Events Calendar using Google Docs so that all my family members could use it by collaboration
  6. Did a quick check on my Wardrobe: I realized I had more than 175 clothes in total which I consider is a lot. So I have decided to donate around 25% of the same.
  7. Organized my Movie (DVD) Collection so that if I misplace one, I still have a count on what I had. (My Movie List)
  8. I made a few custom modifications on my Website to display my Twitter & Blog feed posts.
  9. Realized that coordinating an event is more difficult than it seems.
  10. Got myself Dragon Naturally Speaking for Speech Recognition.
  11. Made a lot of Process definition & improvement at work.

My Resolution for 2009:

  1. Try to learn from my past. I believe to have forgotten all the basics from my past including History, Geography & Science. This was because I studied to pass the exam and not to learn for my knowledge. Now I want to change the same. I’ll do so by reading my school text books.
  2. Learn Yoga (Link)
  3. Learn the fundamentals of an S corporation v/s LLC.
  4. Read daily a story which has a “Moral” to it. I usually like to read “Tinkle” because it has a lot of Graphic and makes it interesting & easy to read.
  5. Try to be more object oriented in work than do odd jobs that will help me learn a lot but not engrave me with detailed skill set.
  6. Help a social organization develop and maintain its website.
  7. Understand HIPAA, Security Laws and Disability Compliance updates
  8. Not be lazy and be in touch with friends and maintain healthy social relationships.

Each year I try to document my resolutions. There are a few which I never get a chance to meet. However there are a few which I complete and am proud of.

Like everyday in my life, I learn from observation; Again in 2010, I choose to learn all the good things from life and share it with others through means of education and knowledge sharing by use of collaboration tools like this blog.

People are nice at Myrtle Beach, SC

Published by Nainil Chheda on December 20, 2009 in Technology. 0 Comments

Today (Dec 20, 2009) ends my week long vacation visit to Myrtle Beach, SC. Don’t get me wrong that people aren’t nice in other places. It’s just that I felt the hospitality and the warm welcome we (me and Avni) received was worth mentioning.

Every year I choose to visit a new place to spend my holidays with my family. This year, I had an opportunity to visit two places: Las Vegas, NV & Myrtle Beach, SC.

Being in Boston there is always a need to visit warm places during Winter times. Hence we choose Myrtle Beach, SC. The average weather temperature there during the month of December is 62 degrees Fahrenheit while in Boston the average temperature during December is 26 degrees Fahrenheit.

There are three things I like to do the most in my vacation:

  1. Be with my family;
  2. Visit new places and;
  3. Learn something new about the people, culture and the tradition.

There were many instances which touched my heart while at Myrtle Beach; however there was one instance particularly worth mentioning:

Taxi Fare:
While departing from our vacation resort (Sheraton Broadview), we were required to hire a cab/taxi to be dropped off to the Airport. Usually it takes about 20 bucks including tip for a one way ride from the hotel room to the Airport. The resort being large, the ride to main road (out side the resort) is around a minute to a minute and a half. This cab driver today was kind enough to start the fare (meter) only after we were outside the resort. When prompted to start the charges early, he mentioned that he has does not like to charge his clients with such mundane charges.

We visited many places including :
1. Beaches at Myrtle Beach
2. Charleston – The Historic Tour
3. Shopping: Broadway at the Beach; Market Commons
4. Entertainment Shows: Alabama Theatre, Carolina Opry
5. Ripleys Aquarium (Christmas Trees from all 50 states)
6. Resorts: Sheraton Broadview; Holiday Inn Vacation Club

Theory of Relativity while traveling:
Every time we are eager to visit a vacation spot and just want to get out of our homes and work places and we build up the energy and excitement for such adventures. However, during our return (mainly during a long flight journey) one is always wanting to “Reach Home” the earliest. I believe this is what is known as the Theory of Relativity.

It’s not that I like this instance just because I was not charged extra and that I saved money; I just feel that there are good people with a heart that choose to do the right thing even thought they are not obliged to.

Face Down Discipline

Published by Nainil Chheda on August 30, 2009 in Technology. 1 Comment

When I was a kid, I was told “Walk in a straight line: keeping one arm distance from the person in front of you; face down”. This was the discipline I was taught.

Today I still keep my face down for most of my activities:
Walking: Reading my emails over my phone
Sitting: Using my laptop

Is technology making sure I stay disciplined?

Today I read, “China signs deal to sell iPhones“. China has more than 600 million mobile phone accounts. Most of the users while using a smart phone are “face down”. That is what I call a discipline.

Smartphones have taken over the way we connect with the world and with our selves. I use a Palm Treo 800w. The phone allows me to download apps which connect me to social networking sites. It has built in browser with JavaScript support which allows me to browse any site and perform work operations while I am remote from my work.

Smart phones are still evolving and some of the areas where I feel they lack are:
1. Processing Speed
2. Internet Browsing bandwidth
3. Browser capability
4. Screen Resolution (real estate limitations)

As a Knowledge Manager I believe technology is evolving to make our lives better and I have had the opportunity to realize at a very early age that technology can help maintain discipline in our lives.

TED Videos that Inspire Me

Published by Nainil Chheda on July 30, 2009 in Technology. 0 Comments

Here are some of the Ted.com videos that inspire me:

William Kamkwamba on building a windmill:

Jill Bolte Taylor’s stroke of insight