Wanna buy a Battle Tank from Amazon?

Last updated on: May 20, 2009 at 8:20 am By Desh Kapoor

I am not sure if anyone of you have been in the market recently to buy a Battle tank? Well, if you were ever thinking of one here's a deal - A battle tank is on sale on Amazon (JL421 Badonkadonk Land Cruiser/Tank). Its price - a cool $19,999.95 and is produced by the NAO company in Palo Alto. It is touted as a "completely unique, extremely rare land vehicle and battle tank". Its features are really cool and include: Interior, which is fully carpeted and cozy, with accent lighting and room for up to five people. (What would a battle be without ACCENT lighting? Thanks NAO! That.. right there seals the deal for me!) A 400 watt premium sound system with PA is mounted to project sound both into the cabin and outward from behind the windows. (why not keep your enemy entertained while you are busy firing at him? And, don't forget your favorite MP3 collection in your barrack. Obama won't help there! 😉 Exterior is a steel shell with a rust patina, and features head and tail lights, turn signal lights, trim lighting, underbody lighting, fixed slats protecting the windows, and a unique industrial-strength rubberized flexible skirt that shields and protects the wheels to within an inch of the ground, while still allowing for enough flex to give clearance over bumpy and uneven terrain. Did you notice the 'Underbody lighting'? That's wicked!! Master power, ignition, all lighting, and stereo features are controlled from a single switchboard to the left of the driver, again accessible from either the seated or standing position. (SINGLE SIGN ON. Yeah baby!!) Standard drive is an air-cooled, 6hp Tecumseh gasoline (unleaded only) engine, with centrifugal clutch, giving the Donk a top speed of 40 mph. Unleaded only, so we are "Green". That one's checked off my list! Remember to stop at the Unleaded pump when you get to the Gas Station, Will you? Unfortunately it is not licensed for use on public roads. At least in the US. I am sure there are some countries in the world right now, where such a tank may be the "Vehicle of Choice".. specifically given the peace situation in those "neighborhoods". But what really took the cake was one review I read on Amazon for this product (btw, there are an incredible 1,744 reviews of this product!!). Creative and kick-ass Hillarious! Enjoy! Read more

That's the pet I want!

Last updated on: May 20, 2009 at 7:55 am By Desh Kapoor

I don't know about you... but heck, I want the pet who can actually GET THIS! Read more

Clinton and his hand

Last updated on: May 19, 2009 at 4:42 pm By Desh Kapoor

There is a saying in Hindi - Rassi jal gayi par bal nahin gaya (Rope has been burnt but its remains crossed). Here is Bill Clinton with Fran Drescher at the Life Ball charity event in Vienna. You can see that he still has his fingers on all things hot in this world.. 🙂 Read more

What are banks for?

Last updated on: May 19, 2009 at 6:00 am By Desh Kapoor

This definition of Banks has been doing rounds on the internet (and I got it in my email). Read more

Prabhakaran is Dead – Violence and Ahimsa

Last updated on: May 19, 2009 at 5:45 am By Desh Kapoor

Humanity demands fairness and goodness. Even in war civility is the way for a more peaceful world. That's what our instincts say and that is what is most ethical. However, when one goes back to history, one sees that those who were ruthless and not shy of completing a hostile exercise to its logical end, were more successful. Whether it is right or wrong.. good or bad, the truth is that the in war and in fighting half-way never works. Either you go the full way or don't start at all. If you look at the Islamic conquests, the European invaders, including the British and the US in WW-II against Japan, one would see that the reason why they changed the history was because they ruthlessly put the opposition down. They would either kill every body en-mass or they would take them as slaves. All these examples (except to some extent, the US action in WW-II) are examples of aggression and not self defence. Whether the proponents put a cloak of religious expansion and spreading the "love" of their Prophet or Leader, cannot hide the aggressive intent. Nevertheless, If you are fighting an opposition in a war then civility in war of treating your opposition with humanity has not been a best practice. We, in India, have been the prime exponent of that - from Prithviraj Chauhan (against Ghori) to Indira Gandhi (in 1971 against ZA Bhutto and Pakistan). Again, I know our culture does believes that being good to your opponent in war IS a virtue but if you would read history you would realize that it is somehow not the best practice. Sri Lanka has been suffering for decades now from the Tamil terrorism. The Tamil "tigers" were like mad warriors on hire for money as terrorism had seeped deep into their blood. ISI could hire LTTE operatives for a few thousand dollars to do suicide bombings or terror attacks anywhere in the sub continent. Sheikh Hasina's assassination attempt by LTTE financed by ISI was a prime example of that. There was NO way to clearly separate a "Normal and peace loving" Sri lankan Tamil from a "terrorist Sri Lankan Tamil". That terrorist machine has finally come to an end. Today, the news came that Vellupillai Prabhakaran, the 54-year-old founder-chief of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE); and his son Charles Anthony along with LTTE intelligence chief Pottu Amman, Sea Tiger chief, Soosai were dead. Read more

Pakistani Nukes may already have been Compromised

Last updated on: May 19, 2009 at 1:38 am By Desh Kapoor

As Pakistan keeps growing its arsenal, an Israeli journal with close relation to Israeli intelligence, has said that Dr. Singh has warned Obama that some nuclear sites in the Taliban-Al Qaeda strongholds had already been compromised. It is being rumored that Pakistan may have already lost a sub-kiloton nuke to the Taliban! The story has worded it in a rather interesting semantics: nuclear sites in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP) were "already partly" in the hands of the militants. So, the key words are Already and Partly. The first part obviously shows that the damage has been done. The latter part suggests that maybe it is still Works-in-Progress for that group in their ambition to get "The Prize"! Read more

Pakistan using US Aid to Add Nuclear Arsenal

Last updated on: May 19, 2009 at 1:03 am By Desh Kapoor

While it is fighting Taliban and begging for more money, Pakistan is ostensibly working over time to create weapon-grade Uranium, and when the new reactors go live... they will get ready to make weapon-grade Plutonium. If you heard the discussion of Musharraf with Zakaria - where I feel Zakaria was toothless and really easy on Mushy - you would understand the mentality of Pakistan's obsession with India. Worse is that the money to pay for this largesse is probably coming from the Humanitarian money given by donors like US and FoP. This is the sad story of our sub continent. It is NOT about how to improve the lives of common Pakistanis but how to hit other countries. As Bruce Riedel (the Brookings Institution scholar and the co-author of Mr. Obama’s review of Afghanistan-Pakistan strategy) says it really well: "Pakistan has more terrorists per square mile than anyplace else on earth, and it has a nuclear weapons program that is growing faster than anyplace else on earth.” Read more

The Pink Chaddi Soldier

Last updated on: May 18, 2009 at 5:07 am By Desh Kapoor

Here is an interesting scene - a Pink Chaddi Soldier! The guy's name is Zachary Boyd. He woke up to a Taliban assault on his platoon and only had time to grab his weapon, helmet and body armor before he could rush out to fight.. in his pink boxers and flip-flop sandals. The 19 year old kid is a member of Army's 1st Battalion 26th Infantry and hails from Fort Worth, Texas. The boxers are from a shop in New York City and his shirt came from his favorite ice cream shop, Woolley's Frozen Custard in his home town. Read more

Who reads Drishtikone? A look at the readership

Last updated on: May 17, 2009 at 7:22 pm By Desh Kapoor

I have often wondered who reads Drishtikone most? Well, I happened to check the demographics out on the Alexa site. And What do I get? Something very interesting! Compared the internet population, the population that accesses Drishtikone is highly represented by the following types: Women 45-54 years old With Graduate Degree With Children Browsing from Work. That is a fairly interesting insight for me. Now, I write a lot about politics and India.. so I am wondering if that is what most of this demographic really like. Read more

How to change WordPress admin password through Cpanel

Last updated on: May 16, 2009 at 10:59 pm By Desh Kapoor

I have a web site on WordPress whose login/password I had forgotten. Even the email that had been configured in the account wasn't the correct one. So, I was stuck!!! All that I had was the access to the cpanel. The BIG question: How do you change the password via your cpanel? I looked around and finally found the answer which was easy and very elegant! No un-necessary coding nothing required.. its actually very simple and it worked like a charm. Here is the link for its tutorial. If you need it, you can use it - it worked perfectly for me. Read more