NIKHIL ARORA

The BTTR Gourmet Garden

nikhilarora — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 01:56:38 +0000

BTTR Ventures just launched a new product that I wanted to share with you all: The BTTR Gourmet Garden – a grow it at home mushroom kit that lets you grow up to a pound of delicious pearl oyster mushroom at home in as little as ten days!

Check it out at: www.themushroomkit.com

New, ‘Bttr’ Beginning

nikhilarora — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 20:27:17 +0000

First, I apologize for not updating this blog in seemingly forever – but I’m happy of that fact because the past few months were absolutely incredible, and left no time for even writing a few words or copying some links to share.

I’ve got a lot of questions now that I’ve finished college about what I’m doing after graduation, and I thought I’d use this forum as a way to answer some of those questions.

As those who know me well understand, I’ve always been itching to do something on my own after graduation, and couldn’t see myself going back to school right away either. Fortunately enough, an opportunity/idea came along, and Alex Velez (another 09 Cal grad/good friend) and I have decided to run with it in the form of a company we co-founded: BTTR Ventures, LLC (stands for “Back to the Roots”, and is pronounced ‘better’)

In essence, we are striving to create a sustainable, “green” business here in the Bay Area that diverts a waste stream – the tons of coffee ground waste generated weekly in the Bay Area – and converts it into high-end specialty mushrooms such as oyster and shiitake. We then sell this produce to local consumers through top-quality grocery outlets or restaurants. Yes – I’m going growing mushrooms after I graduate. Our own waste stream, the rich fungal compost generated from the coffee grounds used, is then donated to local partner organizations, such as City Slickers – an urban farm out in Oakland. You can learn more and check out some articles about the business at www.bttrventures.com

BTTR Ventures, over a silhouette of Pangea - signifying a movement back to the roots.

The venture has been going quite well thus far, and I’m excited now to finally be able to put 100% of my focus on this. It’s refreshingly nice to finally be able to put your entire body and soul towards things I actually am passionate about – not just problem sets, and random essays.

Despite being absolutely ecstatic to not have to do school busy work anymore, leaving college was one of the hardest/saddest moments, as I had the best four years I could have ever dreamed of and made friends for life. But, having something to do right after graduation about which I’m passionate, excited, and committed to has made the transition far easier.

I’m going to miss Cal, but I’m excited to start this next chapter in my life. It’s time to apply the lessons learned from the people, places, classes, ideas, and hurdles I’ve come across in the past four years to make a difference and generate something of value to society.

I’m excited to get my hands dirty, and simply create. Even if this venture never works out I know I’m in for a hell of a ride over the remainder of 2009 and beyond.

Much appreciation for all the support and love over the past four years and upon graduation. I know it’s just the beginning of a lot of good times ahead.

Best,
Nikhil

P.s. I’m trying to write a longer entry looking back on the past four years – but who knows…

The Cellular Future – Move over Iphone

nikhilarora — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 00:11:24 +0000

Shoutout to my friend Ali Ansary for sharing this at his blog, http://aliansary.com/blog/?p=376 I had to post it here, as I think the more eyeballs that see it, the more hopeful we’ll all be that despite this economy turmoil and seemingly endless downward spiral, human creativity and ingenuity is still taking us to fascinating places. Unbelievable concept video.

The video below is a short clip showing Nokia’s vision for their phone, the “Morph” – something at least ten years down the line. It demonstrates some of the benefits of nanotechnology and how it will revolutionize the world as we know it by the time the next generation grows up.

The Lost Generation – Clever Poetry

nikhilarora — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 00:05:08 +0000

Very well done. Creativity at its best.

Much Love: Birthday Thanks and Appreciation.

nikhilarora — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 03:53:06 +0000

First of all, thanks to everyone – family and friends – who sent me wishes for my birthday. Can’t express my appreciation enough. The nicest things about birthdays, beyond being able to celebrate with those around you, is that they offer a chance to reconnect with people who you haven’t spoken to in ages. It’s always great to see what random calls you’ll get on a birthday.

My last year was by far the best year of my life, and it’s all because of the love and support of family and friends. I look forward to enjoying my coming year with all of you again and seeing where it takes me, and all of us together.

I know this is corny and cheesy, but I got to say the best gift is always just the company of you all. Actual birth-days are fun, but as long as I got friends/family I care about around, I enjoy everyday like a ‘birthday.’

Thanks everyone!

-Nikhil

Passion for Life – “Thank you, Lord Jesus”

nikhilarora — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 20:21:11 +0000

There are sometimes when you see someone who really catches your attention because they display an absolute passion for life and excitement over their own potential. They don’t get down with their own situation, but are always looking forward to something greater.

Check out this clip of a 19 year old kid named Julio Osegueda asking President Obama a question. It’s classic. At first you think he’s an act – but after a while you see that the passion and excitement is completely genuine.

Awesome.

A Real 6th Sense – Fascinating Technology

nikhilarora — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 21:39:45 +0000

Check out this new technology being developed at MIT. It allows any surface to become a computer screen. Although clunky at best right now given the devices you have to wear – imagine the potential as the technology becomes smaller and more streamlined. The possibilities are endless.

By Kim Zetter February 05, 2009 | 3:59:35 PMCategories: TED Conference

LONG BEACH, California — Students at the MIT Media Lab have developed a wearable computing system that turns any surface into an interactive display screen. The wearer can summon virtual gadgets and internet data at will, then dispel them like smoke when they’re done.

Pattie Maes of the lab’s Fluid Interfaces group said the research is aimed at creating a new digital “sixth sense” for humans.

In the tactile world, we use our five senses to take in information about our environment and respond to it, Maes explained. But a lot of the information that helps us understand and respond to the world doesn’t come from these senses. Instead, it comes from computers and the internet. Maes’ goal is to harness computers to feed us information in an organic fashion, like our existing senses.

The prototype was built from an ordinary webcam and a battery-powered 3M projector, with an attached mirror — all connected to an internet-enabled mobile phone. The setup, which costs less than $350, allows the user to project information from the phone onto any surface — walls, the body of another person or even your hand.

Maes showed a video of her student Pranav Mistry who she describes as the brains behind the project. Mistry wore the device on a lanyard around his neck, and colored Magic Marker caps on four fingers (red, blue, green and yellow) helped the camera distinguish the four fingers and recognize his hand gestures with software that Mistry created.

The gestures can be as simple as using his fingers and thumbs to create a picture frame that tells the camera to snap a photo, which is saved to his mobile phone. When he gets back to an office, he projects the images onto a wall and begins to size them.

When he encounters someone at a party, the system projects a cloud of words on the person’s body to provide more information about him — his blog URL, the name of his company, his likes and interests. “This is a more controversial [feature],” Maes said over the audience’s laughter.

In another frame, Mistry picks up a boarding pass while he’s sitting in a car. He projects the current status of his flight and gate number he’s retrieved from the flight-status page of the airline onto the card.

“If you need to know what time it is, it’s as simple as drawing a watch on your arm,” Maes said, while Mistry used his right finger to draw a circle on his left wrist. The face of a watch popped up on his hand, which the audience liked.

When Mistry folds his hands in “namaste” fashion, the system opens a menu to allow him to choose an application. If he wants to read e-mail on his phone, he draws an @ symbol in the air with his finger. He can project a phone pad onto his palm and dial a number without removing the phone from his pocket. As he reads the newspaper on the subway he can project a video onto the page that provides more information about the topic he’s reading.

Maes and Mistry told Wired they’ve been working on the project for four months, day and night, and have filed a patent for it.

Maes’ MIT group, which includes seven graduate students, were thinking about how a person could be more integrated into the world around them and access information without having to do something like take out a phone. They initially produced a wristband that would read an RFID tag to know, for example, which book a user is holding in a store.

They also had a ring that used infrared to communicate by beacon to supermarket smart shelves to give you information about products. As you grab a package of macaroni, the ring would glow red or green to tell you if the product was organic or free of peanut traces — whatever criteria you program into the system.

“We wanted to make information more useful to people in real time with minimal effort in a way that doesn’t require any behavior changes,” Maes said. “The wristband was getting close, but you still had to take out your cell phone to look at the information.”

That’s when they struck on the idea of accessing information from the internet and projecting it. So someone wearing the wristband could pick up a paperback in the bookstore and immediately call up reviews about the book, projecting them onto a surface in the store or doing a keyword search through the book by accessing digitized pages on Amazon or Google books.

They started with a larger projector that was mounted on a helmet. But that proved cumbersome if someone was projecting data onto a wall then turned to speak to friend — the data would project on the friend’s face. Last month, they switched to a smaller projector and created the pendant prototype to be worn around the neck.

The TED demo was the first time they’ve shown it in public, though they’re far from making a commercial product or forming a company around their invention. “But we’re really excited about the potential,” Maes said.

They learned recently that cellphone makers soon plan to release cellphones with projectors integrated in them, which will simplify their system even more.

An Unrivaled Rivalry in Sports

nikhilarora — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 06:09:00 +0000

We’ve all heard about some of the greatest rivalries in sports: Red Sox vs Yankees; Lakers vs Celtics; and Vikings vs Packers. But one of the most intense rivalaries in the entire world is often overlooked: the US men’s soccer team vs Mexico. The proximity is only one part of it; and an element that’’s mimicked in many other soccer (futbol/football) rivalaries – France/Germany and Argentina/Brasil to name a few. However, none of these matchups have the same socio-economic underpinings as USA vs Mexico. With Mexico in the US shadow in almost all other categories (Olympic sports, economy, education availablity, employment options, safety, natural resources, etc), this “game” is one of the few avenues that Mexicans and Mexican-Americans can assert their pride over the US. Add to that complexity the huge number of Mexican immirants and American citizens of Mexican heritage, it is quite evident how the 22 men on the pitch are fighting for far more than what shows up on the scoreboard.

This Wednesday, the rivalry continues at 4 PM on ESPN2 from Columbus, Ohio. As a preview, I’ve posted the video recap of the 2-0 USA victor over Mexico in the second round (single elimination) of the 2002 World Cup. This was arguably the most important victory for the US in the history of this rivalry.

Peering into the Past – Newspapers Foreshadowing their Own Doom

nikhilarora — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 22:31:14 +0000

Courtesy of Robin Wauters for finding this and posting it online.

This is an absolutely priceless video that really shows how far we have come in terms of obtaining our news. From those terrible screens and lack of graphics, to getting real time twitter-like news feeds on my Iphone, it’s remarkable how fast newspapers have become antiquated. It seems the only time people really buy newspapers now is truly for the purpose of antiquity – i.e. buying November 5, 2008 newspapers to own a piece of American history.

The interesting question is that if newspapers had realized the online trend of information and news decades ago, why were they so slow in adapting their own companies? It seems everyday now some traditional newspaper company is falling apart, while online news sites such as the Huffington Post collect more and more eyeballs. Just the other day, the New York Times reported that its fourth quarter profit declined an astonishing 48%.

Definitely worth a few minutes of your time.

2008-2009 Travels: India to England. But there’s no Place like Home.

nikhilarora — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 02:09:14 +0000

It’s only fitting that my first post after way too long is a collection of photos from my recent travels – which is the initial purpose I had envisioned for this blog.

Pictures below are from a camel safari in Rajastan, a Safari for Big Cats in Kanha Forest Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, family time in Jabalpur, MP; Pathankot, Punjab; and then pics from London.

Thoughts and experiences from the trip will follow in a later post. But one thing I learned is that from all the places I’ve visited, I have yet to find a place like orange county, san diego county, or the bay area in the world. The combination of diversity of people, thought, geography, but yet stability in amazing weather is unbeatable. No place like home.

-Nikhil