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VoIP for Deployed Soldiers?
rickbassham asks: "With VoIP really catching on these days, I decided to look into it for keeping deployed soldiers in touch with family and friends. I am currently a soldier in Iraq, and have the ability to get satellite-based internet, thanks to a few of the locals. While individually it is prohibitively expensive, a group of soldiers can come together to purchase a decent-to-high-speed internet connection. One of my plans is to link other soldiers to Vonage or another VoIP provider, so they will be able to keep in touch. Understanding the latency issues with VoIP via satellite (not to mention the other disadvantages), what upload speed does Slashdot recommend as a minimum for a QoS enabled connection for about 15-20 soldiers? The same for a non-QoS connection? What recommendations do you have for a good VoIP provider?"
Hope they die sooner.
Karma: Terrible - and proud of it!
>I am currently a soldier in Iraq, and have the ability to get satellite-based internet, thanks to a few of the locals.
First, thanks for your service.
Second, I'd keep my eye on your "locals."
You can't talk about Wikipedia's flaws on Wikipedia
Reminds me of a line from Network...
You are a solder.
You Kill.
You get killed.
That is what you do.
When you become a solder, you give up your family.
You give up your friends.
You give up your career.
You do something different now.
You kill. And you get killed.
If you can't accept this, or deal with it, then you shouldn't be a solder.
Because you're not doing anyone any good by going to the other side of the world and pretending to be one.
Look, if you sign up for this shit (and you did), then tell your friends and your co-workers, and above all your family, that you no longer exist in their world. And tell them that it would probably be best if they were to assume that you never did.
You aren't going to understand war if you are more interested in how you are going to get pictures of your dog and your kid's baseball games while you're in 'the service'.
Face it, if you are more interested in how you are going to get pictures of your dog and your kid's baseball games, then you aren't a solder.
And you don't understand war.
War means that you give all that up. War means that you chose to give up most of what makes you a decent and civilized human being. And it means that you aren't going to get it back when you come back from your 'tour of duty'.
You aren't coming back. Even if you do live. You are now different...you can't go back to the way that things were.
Again, If you can't accect this or don't believe it, then don't sign up to be a solder. Because you aren't doing yourself or your country any 'service' by pretending to be one.
The Viet Cong understood this;
The Mujaadeen understand this:
and you can't defeat them until you understand this and accept it as well.
otherwise, you're just pissing away billions after billions of your people's wealth for a war that you are just going to lose anyway.
So forget about phoning home.
You signed up...war is your home now.
They are putting their lives on the line, not for their country, but to rape another country. Now that's obscene!
Fuck the military. Last time they did anything for me was 1776. Now they get free school, discounted homes, free medical forever, etc, etc. for doing jack shit for me but I (we, the taxpayers) have to pay for these fucking losers who can't hack the real world. How is going from mommy and daddy teling you what to do, how to dress, how to act, feeding you, clothing you, and proving shelter for you to the military doing the EXACT same considered growing up and becoming a man. What a fucking joke! Try making $ w/ out sucking from my paycheck you worthless fucking slimes! /rant
Why don't you stop killing iraqi baby's? Get the hell out of those people's country then you can make all the calls you want.
abuse? What, they made them play grabass with each other for 15 minutes? that's abuse?
If you're a prisoner of war and all you're made to do is run around and play grabass with your fellow detainees, you don't call that abuse. you call that lucky.
I could imagine if I had a choice:
You are a POW. Which would you choose?
A) bamboo under the fingernails while living in 1x1 meter bamboo cell half sinking in water.
B) give your body up for unethical scientific research (you might live).
C) be used as human shields to guard ammo dumps
D) run around grabbing each others asses while listening to some Benny Hill music.
I would choose D, no question.