Lance Cpl. Oscar Cedeno, of 2nd Battalion 6th Marines, watches episodes of the television show Heroes on a broken HP laptop during downtime at his patrol base. Downrange can be a tough environment for laptops that get bumped, dropped, and filled with dust and dirt. Photo: Victor J. Blue/Wired.comGadgets Give Soldiers In Afghanistan A Slice Of Home -- The Danger Room
The heat and the dust and the diesel fumes. The constant drone of the generators, of vehicles, of radio static. The same food everyday, the same meal in the same brown plastic bag. The constant danger and uncertainty. The confusion, wonder and consequences waiting for you outside the wire.
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My Comment: I own a small and isolated chalet that is in the bush and north of Montreal. On weekdays, everyone leaves and the closest person is a few kilometers away. I never feel alone .... my gadgets, internet, and satellite TV gives me an environment that tells me that I am in civilization, and everyone that I know is only a short distance away.
Nothing can be further from the truth .... but it is an illusion that you only become sensitive to when you think about it. For the soldiers in Afghanistan they are probably in the same type of environment .... but when they go outside the wire .... a very different reality sets in.
In this immunofluorescent image, a specimen of human embryonic lung reveals the presence of cytomegalovirus; magnification 25X. (Credit: CDC/Dr. Craig Lyerla)
