Clarke got it all wrong. Obviously. Stars were the least of the secrets the monolith held behind its smooth black surface.

This is Oscar. He was adoped by the staff of a nursing home in Rhode Island.

He lives in the dementia department. He takes his rounds around the ward, and strangely, an hour or so before a patient dies, Oscar seems to sense it.

He climbs up on the bed, and cuddles up next to the patient. He does not leave till the patient has passed away – which is always within one hour.

He is so predictable that he never makes a mistake.

The staff starts calling up the family of the patient when they see Oscar on anyone’s bed. Sure thing that he or she is going to die soon.

And now presenting, Oscar the LOLCat!

On paper, this car is the cheapest car in the world. Not the Tata Nano.

The Tata Nano, which made its debut at the Auto Expo in New Delhi, India in January costs approximately US $ 2,500. The Tara Tiny would cost around US $ 2475! No I am not pulling your leg – it is true.

And it is an electric car to boot. What more do you want? Huh? Huh?

I did a quick search and I could not find the website for the manufacturer Bengal Enamel. Bengal Enamel? Whatever, but I am repeating this – this is not a joke. Look at the pictures below. The cars would be exported too – but I do not know to which countries. Some of the pics of the Tara Tiny below have the steering on the left – that looks like an export to the US.

Tara International has teamed up with China’s Aucma, a leading player in the electrical vehicles and appliances segment, to manufacture these cars.

Expected range is 80 – 100 kms on an 8-hour charge. Not of much use for the highway for sure. But if all you need a small runabout for the town, this car will do well enough.

So is the Tara Tiny going to take on the Tata Nano? Of course not. I am impressed by the sheer guts of Tara International though. An electric car at that price is amazing, considering that the Reva electric car costs around Rs 3 lakh (7500 US $) when I last heard – so if tara International can truly put this car in the market at this price, that is brilliant indeed.

Did you even know these little hippos existed? I did not. Anyway, a motion sensitive camera has managed to capture pictures of the pygmy hippos. Take a look.

First, a regulation picture of a pygmy hippo. You can read more about them here

Anyway, so everyone thought they were extinct and they obviously are not, as these pics below make very clear!

The face!

And the butt!

And here are links to news stories about this amazing discovery that should make those who care for the ecology and wildlife really happy.

CNN,  BBC, National Geographic

The cities of Dubai and Abu Dhabi are recovering from the shock of a 200-car pileup on Tuesday that left at least four dead and 300 others wounded.

Dozens of cars were on fire after a series of crashes on the highway linking the two main cities of the United Arab Emirates. More… (ABC News)

At least eight people were killed on Tuesday and some 284 injured in the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) worst road accident when more than 200 cars piled up on a highway in heavy early morning fog, media reports said. More … (Sify)

Srinivas Babu, first secretary in the Indian embassy in Abu Dhabi, told PTI that the embassy is in constant touch with the local authorities to provide relief to the injured Indians.

The incident took place during the morning rush hour on the main motorway connecting Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

WordPress has always impressed me much. Blogger I have tried, and while extremely easy to use, it just feels too basic.

Typead wants me to pay.

And while I am reasonably confortable with the Web, I am no hardcore webmaster, and installing MovableType or WordPress by myself is nearly impossible to me.

Just one feature – categories – itself is enough to make me love this.

What do I wish for, even before I have really started on this?

A three column template. Or even a four column one. Oh what I wouldn’t do for a three column template, or even the ability to add my own templates. Hmm.. maybe its there already? Better check again.