How long can a man customize cars ...

Presenting MAD MIKE.
Hail Pimp My Ride! Yeah!

Of rains and Tata Skies

So, I was watching TV, when all of a sudden, the channels start showing a lot of disturbance. I wait a few seconds, because I think I know what’s going on and, sure enough, a few seconds later my Tata Sky pops up with this:

The Set-Top-Box is unable to receive a signal. Press ‘select’ to view another channel or ‘help’ to ...

Whatever. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that it’s raining outside and although that’s excellent, what the heck, I was watching something on TV, wasn’t I? So I decide. Since I basically don’t have anything else to do (our holidays just started!) I call up the Tech Sup guys – because I know some people whose Tata Sky does work in the rain – and tell them to make the flaming thing work. The guy at the other end makes me check some stuff and tell him what I see, which convinces him that, in fact, the STB is not working. I tell him it’s raining and this always happens when it rains, so could it be because of that, but he says it’s possible, but it shouldn't happen all the time. Then he (very politely) asks me if I could go to my terrace and check the dish out. I tell him no (duh, it’s raining. Plus, my dish is on this elevated part of the terrace, to which I’m in no mood to drag my lazy feet).

Anyway, the TS guy’s pretty helpful and, instead of telling me he’ll send a bunch of guys to fix it, he tells me how to do it on my own (thank god, those guys charge a premium just to see what the matter is). So, hopefully, soon after I feel like checking the dish, it should work. Yeah!

NOTE: While I was typing this, I was also checking my feeds and it turns out G also has the same problem. Oh, well.

Nooo ... not AGAIN

It's just too bad. I was soo hoping Federer would win. If only he hadn't made a gargantuan amount of unforced errors...

When Windows made an error

Update: Sorry, guys, the images weren't displaying - it's fixed now.

What's left for Part 7?

When Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was to be released, there were loads of such rumours about the last two books floating about. Let's see what's come true so far, and what's left to be known. [Stuff in gray is what's already come true, stuff in blue is what I'd like to know, and stuff in red is what I think is unlikely. Stuff in black: no comments :) ]

• We will learn a lot more about Voldemort in this book.
• Harry will leave Privet Drive early again, for a "much pleasanter" reason than in book 5.
• The opening chapter of book 6 was originally planned for the early parts of book 1; perhaps we get a more in-depth story of what happened the night Harry's parents died.
• Neither Harry nor Voldemort (including Tom Riddle) are the Half-Blood Prince.
• Arthur Weasley will NOT be the new Minister of Magic.
• By the ends of books 6 and 7 "you'll have all the back story you'll need", says JK Rowling, and a prequel will not be necessary.
• There will be a new Minister of Magic, no more Mr. Cornelius Oswald Fudge.
• We will find out what happened to Hagrid's half brother Grawp. He will be a bit more controllable in book 6.
• The Dursleys are in the next book, but Harry's stay with them will be the shortest yet. In book 5 he stayed for 4 weeks, so we know his stay will be less than 4 weeks.
• Cho Chang will not be a romantic interest of Harry in Book 6; however there will be a "little romance" for Harry says JK.
• In books 6 and 7 we will find out exactly why JK killed off Sirius.
• Harry becomes even more powerful in book 6.
  
• In books 6 and 7 we will find out why Dumbledore trusts Snape.
• We will find out what happened to Wormtail aka Peter Pettigrew.
• More about the animosity between Snape and Sirius will be revealed in the last 2 books.
• JK has said that giving away the form of Snape's boggart and patronus says too much. We'll definitely find out what Snape's worst fear is, and it'll be important.
• Hermione and Draco will NOT end up together in book 6 or 7.
• We will find out what exactly Dudley saw when he looked at the dementors.
• The reason Voldemort and Harry both didn't die when Voldemort tried to kill Harry, will be revealed.
• We will see more of Draco's mother, Narcissa Malfoy, now that Lucius is busy.
• We'll learn more about Harry's scar in the last 2 books.
• Moaning Myrtle will make an appearance again, as will Tonks.
• More about Voldemort's birth will be revealed, thus helping us understand why he is so evil.
• Muggles begin to notice "more and more odd" occurrences in book 6, says JK.
• The wizarding world is really at war in the sixth book.
• Harry will tell his dearest friends about the prophecy after it sinks in to him.
• We will learn more about Harry's relatives, including his grandparents (though JK says they aren't really important to the story).
• We will find out what happened to Sirius's motorbike.
• Book 6 will be shorter than the 5th book (or at least JK's 99% sure, but will not swear on her children's lives)(it is, at any rate, more expensive).
• There will be no "new" nationalities of children at Hogwarts. Hogwarts is a British school, and JK says that adding foreigners for the sake of it is not in her plans.
• During an interview, when JKR was asked in which Hogwarts room she'd like to be for 1 hour, she said it would be a room in which Harry has been before, but doesn't know its importance. Yet. (This could have happened in book 5, but we're unsure).
• It's very important in the plot that Harry has his mother's eyes, and that her wand was very good for charms.
• During an interview for Kids BBC, Victor Greensteet (reporter) asked Rowling if Harry would have a dragon for a pet. This is what she replied: "You can't tame a dragon, no matter what Hagrid thinks. It's simply impossible. So no. He has more common sense. He MAY have a different pet in the future, but for now, I won't say anything else".
  
• In the same interview for Kids BBC, the reporter asked J. K. if Harry had ever used the internet, and this is what she had to say: "No. They (the Dursleys) won't let him go near Dudley's computer, and Dudley is the only one who has a computer. They hit him if he gets too near to the keyboard. So the answer would be No. I use it a lot, but Harry doesn't. Wizards don't really need to go on the web. They have an even better way to find out what's happening in the outside world, which I think is a lot more fun than the Internet, but I'm going to keep quiet on this one."
• The choice between what's right and what's easy will be a pillar of the plot in Harry's last 2 years at Hogwarts.
• Harry's parents' profession will be a big part of the plot.
• Something HUGE will be revealed about Lily Potter.