Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl
Even the least sophisticated rural villages in Africa and India have cell phone towers that provide communications to the majority of the population (and probably Internet access), and used cell phones from the developed world are cheap enough that even beggars have them.
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I live in the United States of America, outside of a city. My Internet goes down about once a month, sometimes for two or three days. There are apparently no other options out here, except possibly a company that requires a two-year contract.
I can make and receive calls on my cell phone about one out of every two or three tries; I sometimes have to walk around the property to get reception. I usually got voice mails half an hour to an hour later; sometimes I get them the next day.
A neighbor has a different carrier, which costs quite a bit more but works a little better. Still, fairly often they can't make or receive calls. If either one of us tries to make a cell phone call from the nearest market, which is pretty near the city offices, it almost never works. There's an area with a couple businesses about five miles from there where, as far as I know, nobody can get cell phone service.
I would be curious to know the rural villages where beggars can afford cell phone service.
Quote:
Originally Posted by (E)
Animals can be a threat even if there is no direct combat...Who knows what creepy crawlies you can discover while climbing a steep cliff face.
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Not too long ago, I saw a raccoon in the process of pulling a large bag of cat food out of what I thought was a raccoon-proof container.
And good point about the "creepy crawlies." An armed commando could be taken down by an insect bite (or at least be terribly inconvenienced).