You may want to drop a note to Paul in Saudi. I don’t know whether this is one of the forums he follows, but he’s been living in Saudi Arabia for a long time.
Being an old laptop, the webcam is an option he may want to do without, but skype is pretty much a must. I have skyped my family: Mom is using her headset like an old pro and Lilbro (who never remembers to buy one) either uses chat or calls me up from Mom’s.
About a year ago, in a programming NG I frequent, we got a guy running a rec room in Iraq looking for a timing system for Internet and 'phone usage. They had a bunch of laptops and IP phones for general use.
Possibly they’ve added open wireless routers, something makes me doubt it.
I would find out first - an unwired laptop is not much use.
Ditto for madmonk. He’s a civilian in Baghdad, has been there on and off for many years. I’m sure he’d have some good ideas.
Aside from the lappy stuff, and depending on whether or not he’s able to pack this, he’ll need lots of socks. Certain snacks are harder to come by, too, and I hear beef jerky and the like are highly sought-after.
He’ll need condoms. They’re not for sex; they’re for keeping sand out of his gun.
Okay, no pr0n, got it! I might go find some tasteful erotic e-books, though–it’d be good for the boy to appreciate all the benefits of literacy… 
Bear-Nenno: Great tip about Rosetta Stone–that information has been added as a text file in the folder for the program. I hope he avails himself of the opportunity to get ahead…
jjimm: No huhu, but dayam! I pay that much for a book it’d better be signed by RAH and give me oral pleasure, just sayin’…
Beadalin: Thanks for the tip about the socks, I hadn’t considered it–I’ll definitely go looking for a good deal on a boatload.
Quartz: That’s a very disturbing idea, is that for real? I guess lubed and ribbed would be a bad idea, huh? Shakes head, thinking wincingly of sand in a condom, ow, ow, ow…
I talked to a nice lady whose husband is in Iraq right now and his job is maintaining the WiFi and cell network, so there’s at least one spot that oughta have connectivity! I’m pushing for replacing the 802.11b PCMCIA card for a wireless g, mostly because the current one is having odd reactions with our network. I’m passing along the vote for Skype as well.
I’d love to get the boy wasted beforehand, but he’s in Kentucky and will be deploying from there. His dad is flying out with the laptop and driving his car back to Oregon, so we won’t be seeing him for a while. I’ve loaded about fifty books onto the HDD and I’m looking for some more, so if anyone has links to free ebook d/ls I’d like to hear about them. Being a reader myself I’m hoping the downtime will encourage the kid to take up the habit of reading for enjoyment–like so many kids his age he hasn’t yet. If nothing else, I feel like sending him along a whole buncha things to read is like sending him hugs. I’m worried about the boy–I’ve known him since he was a gawky kid of twelve or so, and I don’t want anything to happen to him…
Happy thoughts, happy thoughts!
This just in!
(WARNING PDF)
Through the Lens of Cultural Awareness offers key insights for Soldiers bound for Iraq, illustrating how cultural awareness can be used to improve individual and unit effectiveness. Go to the link above to download a copy.
Add that to his files. It’s good reading and exactly the type of cultural awareness information you’re looking for.
vanity tag: SmartAleq
Paging Chouinard Fan, former 1LT in Iraq…
I’ve emailed him this link.