Do you have Time?

Dino's last post on this blog was on Wednesday. And why is that? Simply because he did not have Time to write. Dino was bogged down with work during the end of the week, and decided to sign up for a Pranic Healing course during the weekend (by the way, that class was absolutely amazing, more details to follow in another post). Due to time constraints last week, Dino thought that it would be nice to reflect on the value of time and using it wisely in the future.

Imagine there is a bank that credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day; allows you to keep no cash balance; every night deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day. What would you do with such an account Draw out every penny, of course!!!

Every one of us has such a 'bank'. Its name is TIME. Every morning it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off as lost whatever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose. It carries over no balance. It allows no overdraft.

Each day it opens a new account for you. Each night it burns the records of the day. If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours. There is no going back. There is no drawing against tomorrow. You must live in the present -on today's deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness and success!

The clock is running. Make the most of today!! And make it a great Day ahead!!

ApriPoko the Robot

Dino is anxiously waiting for ApriPoko to hit the market and then his living room. Developed by Toshiba, this robot is designed to be used as a voice activated universal remote control, thus eliminating the need for pushing any buttons. The most interesting part is the way it learns – it watches your activities by capturing the infrared signals, and then asks you a question like “What did you do?”

Simply say “I turned on the stereo or TV or microwave” and it will store your response, so that the next time you can command it by voice. This product is still in its early stages, but just imagine if you can some how integrate it with Zigbee or another wireless interface to automate the other tedious activities of your life. Dino is confident that Toshiba has already figured that out.

Voicing opinions through your thoughts?

Imagine a phone conversation without actually speaking. Ambient Corporation which developed a device called Audeo recently demonstrated a public voiceless phone call at a conference. It uses a neckband that translates thoughts into speech by relaying signals wirelessly to a computer that converts them into words spoken by a computerized voice.

What if you don’t want to voice exactly what you’re thinking? Well, according to the developer, producing signals for the Audeo to decipher requires "a level above thinking". Users must think specifically about voicing words for them to be picked up by the equipment.

Now there’s no need to fear people eavesdropping in on your phone conversations or being disturbed during a movie or while studying at a library. The overall benefits, however, would be best utilized by patients suffering from a form of neurological or speech impairment.

Check out the full article and video on New Scientist.

A Story of a Frog

Dino received an interesting story in his email this morning that is related to a previous post on dropping or ignoring negative people from your life.

Once upon a time there were bunch of tiny frogs who arranged a competition. The goal was to reach the top of a very high tower. A large crowd had gathered around the tower to see the race and cheer on the contestants. The race began, and honestly, no one in the crowd really believed that the tiny frogs would reach the top of the tower.

You heard statements such as: "Oh, WAY too difficult!!" "They will NEVER make it to the top." "Not a chance that they will succeed. The tower is too high!"

The tiny frogs began collapsing one at a time, except for a few. The crowd continued to yell, "It is too difficult!!! No one will make it!" More tiny frogs got tired and gave up.

But ONE continued higher and higher and higher, this one wouldn't give up! At the end every other frog had given up climbing the tower. Except for the one who reached the top!

Everyone naturally wanted to know how this one frog managed to do it. A contestant asked the tiny frog how he had found the strength to succeed and reach the goal.

It turned out that the winner was deaf.

Moral of the story: pretend to be deaf or ignore the people that harbor constant pessimistic, self-limiting, and negative thoughts.

Dino’s next challenge

Life is too boring when there’s nothing to strive for. A jolt of inspiration struck Dino earlier this month and guided him to create this Blog. So far, Dino has published a short note everyday, and hopefully this will continue.

Dino’s next challenge is to pass the CWSP (Certified Wireless Security Professional) exam. It’s been almost a year since his last certification, the CompTIA Project+, and feels that it’s the right time to add another certification to his list of achievements.

The next 30-40 days will include long hours of focused studying, and without a doubt, this preparation, persistence, and perspiration will lead to the fulfillment of this desire.

Stay tuned for the results!

Clench your fist

Dino tried an interesting experiment today, he clenched his fist. Then he clenched it a little harder, then a little harder, and again a little harder, and he continued a few more times. He realized that there was no end to the squeezing, he could go on forever. What did this mean?

Life is full of situations that push us towards the edge; it could be family, work, health, finances, etc. Everyone has problems, some resolve them very easily, while others struggle and then give up. This experiment teaches us that no matter how hard we try, we can always do better than we think. The next time you consider giving up, just squeeze a little harder and that will be the difference between defeat and success.

What’s so ‘Good” about Friday?

The fact that we get the day off truly makes this a "Good Friday". Besides catching up on sleep, meeting up with friends, and simply enjoying doing nothing, Dino figured it would be nice to appreciate this day and learn the significance of “Good Friday”. After a few minutes of Googling, this is what came up: “Good Friday is acknowledged in Christianity as the Friday during Holy Week, the day that the Church designates as the anniversary of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ”.

Dino decided to spend a few quiet moments in gratitude of the Christ, when suddenly a thought crossed his mind. Why is that we need a special day for gratitude and appreciation? Every moment, every breath is golden, why not pause for a few minutes each day and experience how the miracles of life unfold? As Einstein once said, “There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” Dino chooses the latter.

Drop negative people like a bad habit

Is the negativity of other people bringing you down? It could be family, friends, or colleagues; there are too many people in this world who are constantly harboring negative thoughts either towards you or others.

Dino has come across a few of this type lately and is seriously becoming very frustrated due to this closed minded pessimistic attitude. They’re constantly complaining, and instead of taking responsibility and some action towards the situation, they decide to sulk all day, and what’s even worse, bring others down with them. They completely drain the energy out of you.

Dino is not being judgmental, but truly believes that the people you associate with either empower or immobilize you. These people have come into his life for a reason and taught him exactly how he should NOT behave. So as of now, he has dropped them just like another bad habit.

Tall People + Big Noses = Big Bucks?

Dino came across two articles recently about certain human characteristics that enable people to make more money. One is height; apparently, taller people are offered higher salaries and more respect. A university professor calculated that each inch in height corresponds to $789 extra in pay each year. The other attribute is the size of the nose. Physiognomists (face readers) claim that those people with a small tip nose don’t consider money as too important, while those with flared nostrils are big spenders. The perfect nose is deemed to be one-third the length of the face, with an equal distance above and below.

Dino is definitely not very tall nor does he have the perfect nose, but this will not deter him from making the big bucks. After all, Warren Buffet isn’t very tall and Bill Gates doesn’t have the perfect nose.

Dino's cousin wins VJ contest!

Dino is extremely proud and excited for his cousin Rajiv Kripalani from Chennai (center in the picture), who won the SS Music’s VJ Factor 3. Yes, that’s right, first a model, then an actor, and now VJ. What’s next? No clue, but for Rajiv, the sky’s definitely the limit.

Dino received an email from Rajiv’s sister this morning saying “Rajiv has won the SS MUSIC's VJ hunt!!!!! Well, his hard work and perseverance has finally paid off and today he is one of the official VJs of the SS MUSIC channel...just tune in whenever you need to get a glimpse of this Kripalani hero :)”

After winning the contest Rajiv said, “Finally, I can call myself a VJ. I was proud to call myself a model, but now I’ll be prouder to call myself a VJ."

Dino and the entire family wish Rajiv continued success and the very best always! God bless.

Is Dino Addicted to the Internet?

While Dino was browsing through his RSS Feeds this morning, he noticed a post referring to an editorial in the American Journal of Psychiatry claiming that Internet addiction is a common compulsive-impulsive disorder that should be added to psychiatry’s official guidebook of mental disorders.

Dino seriously believed that he was addicted to the Internet and could not survive for more than 24 hours without it (including browsing the web for news, blogs, catching up on the latest technologies, chatting with friends or socializing on Facebook).

Dino decided to take a break from the Internet to see if he could survive and experience a few symptoms of withdrawal. Dino visited Chennai for four days and completely cut himself off form the Internet, TV, and newspapers. He got a chance to experience life “offline”, and guess what; he survived, or more like, thrived! His world continued to function very well even though he was unaware of the latest technology merger/acquisition. Dino is proud to say that he is not suffering from any type of Internet addiction!

Who is Dino?

A simple guy with an average lifestyle and a little talent striving to be an exceptional human being. Dino is in his late 20’s and working as a technical marketing manager for a telecommunications company in South East Asia. After trotting around the world (India, Japan, Africa, Taiwan, Dubai, US, and now Singapore) for school, university, and work, Dino has cultivated great wisdom and experiences from these diverse cultures and especially his unique group of friends. This blog will communicate Dino’s perspective on the most random subjects that provoke his mind through this journey called life.

Dino has invested countless hours, weeks, and months in self-inquiry, and is still searching for the answer to that age old question – “Who am I?” Dino is also the author of the Diabetes Cured blog.

Dino’s First Blog Post

Around lunch time today, Dino was struck by a bolt of inspiration – “Why not start a blog? Almost everyone has one, and most of them seem to share totally useless information. However, if I started one, it would be the complete opposite. I’d share my experiences, wisdom and a few random thoughts here and there that would inspire and motivate every soul in this universe”.

Then Dino said “Let there be a Blog!” and there was a blog. “The blog shall be named ‘Dino’s Words of Wisdom’ and it shall enlighten every soul”. The blog was instantly created and Dino saw that it was good.

This is Dino’s first blog post. Stay tuned!