http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timex_Sinclair_1000
2k of RAM. Not a typo. The user's manual started with "10 PRINT 20 GOTO 10" and ended with accessing memory with PEEK and POKE. Spent many, many hours with that thing from 12-13.
"Extremely easy" is hardly informative as said in the top comment... I think what you're asking for is how to find an opportunity, and work.
Antarctica public opportunities are handled through here: http://www.usap.gov/
They need IT people, but it is mostly infrastructure, WAN and LAN related work, and it's usually for 6 month or 1 year contracts. I applied many years back (when Raytheon handled all the contracting through polar.org) but got no response... I met someone later that had done a couple of tours there and he described it as that with something with as tight a community as Antarctica you need an "in", or network your ass off to get to one. It's an environment of trust in an extreme place, and most of the positions are filled by people that already have a relationship with a decision maker.
Positions in dangerous places, if that's the adventure you're looking for, are nearly always managed by an NGO or government contractor responsible for all hiring, etc. So for Afghanistan, as a contractor, you'd probably look to something like SAIC, or even Blackwater/Xe, and once again, you need to network your way to a relationship with someone that could vouch that you're a sane person. These positions are in demand, and they don't lack for peeps through those channels. Again, nearly all infrastructure work. A clearance, if you have one, is a plus, and you'll be required to pass a secret clearance regardless. (which means, some people from the government will ask everything about your life, anything illegal or of bad character you've ever done, drug use, where you lived. The key here is be truthful - it's not necessarily an attempt to eliminate you from getting a clearance, but just to not let anybody blackmail you for skeletons in your closet. They'll ask some questions of your neighbors too, just to verify anything they suspect might be a lie.)
For the rest, in a functioning, growing economy in Asia or South America or Russia vicinity, etc, there are headhunters/staffing firms much like in the US. Best bet is to go local as possible to the hungry, commission only recruiters, vs going through a big multi national. And like the US, don't just work through one, but half a dozen, as they all have knowledge of different opportunities. They do look for real world talent of all kinds, and you can probably bring a lot to the table with the experience you have in more mature environments.
Etrade online banking stores and lets you access years of your own transaction data. Very, very good UI also, and they refund ATM fees. I've used them for around 5 years.
Only drawback is that you need to mail in physical checks that you want to deposit. Wouldn't surprise me if they allowed you to deposit via camera phone pic soon though, like some other banks.
I did this myself, going back only 10 years though. It has been invaluable. Gmail gives you 7GB (with a little more every day), and the searching is top notch and instant.
There are several apps out there to import mail into a gmail account, and it is pretty easy your email is still available via pop or imap (which I'm doubting)... for stuff in a pst file, what I ended up doing was adding the new gmail account into outlook, and then dragging and dropping emails 1000 at a time into the new account. (i also did this for a Groupwise mailbox from one old job) It's slow, but it works. In addition, it tags the mail for you with "Inbox" or "Sent", so you can easily retag it later. Once it is in there, it is a little gold mine to get whatever you need.
I'm late to the post, so I doubt this will get read, but I'll share.
When I've hired devs in the past (past 15 years or so) the question I ask is "what do you do on your own time?" It used to also be "tell me about your home computer set up" but not anymore. For that second question, if they said they had dial up AOL, fine, interview over. If they said they networked it themselves (before the days of wifi) and had a couple of versions of linux going, in addition to their own domain controller and desktop, then I wanted to hear more.
Back to "what do you do on your own time?" What I want to hear is "I code. I dabble with my own ideas or help out other people online." Or I want to hear about how they are dabbling with some weird new language, or open source project, or framework, or whatever, even if it had nothing to do with the job. What I want is that passion - that obsession that is so strong that they want to spend as many waking minutes as possible trying to figure out creative solutions, solve problems, and make a difference. Then, it's my job to point that in the right direction and make an environment where they can thrive, learn, and stretch themselves. I don't want a 9-5 developer. I don't even want someone that says they are an outdoors guy that hikes every chance they get. Yes, it makes you interesting, but not a great coder.
And that's the issue, not age. Most people get past that single minded obsession. They decide (rightly so) that family is more important, kids are important, that they can and want ot leave work behind at the end of the day. That's wisdom and experience that comes with age. For a line job, I don't want that. I want the guy that will pull an all nighter and be thinking about how to fix something continually until he figures it out, and has no higher priority than writing elegant fucking code. Coding is not a job or a paycheck, its a lifestyle. Now I don't want a sweat shop, I want that person to feel like they are making a difference they can see and are getting rewarded for it, but nevertheless, that's the behavior I want, and I want that person to feel like they've landed their dream job. I know that one superstar alpha-coder can do the work of 10 ordinary ones, and I know how to spot them, and I don't want to settle.
It's a fact of life that generally speaking, with age comes temperance. Not always, but mostly. Are you a 50 year old that can hang with that type of person? Then you'll have a job. If you want to come in and demand fixed hours, and communicate that life outside of work comes first to you, that a job is a paycheck and not a lifestyle for you, then this isn't the best line of work for you. For me it has nothing to do with age. I'm also a veteran and I think women should be allowed in the infantry if they want, but I also think they should meet all the physical requirements of carrying weight, long distance marches, hoisting weapons and the like. I'm fully aware that it will eliminate 99% of all women, but that's not unfair to me. Neither is it unfair that most "older" people aren't cut out to be an alpha coder.
Before you go there... that
So... add in the cost for the computer that will use those GBs, because you can't use it without the computer. Desktop, laptop, doesn't matter.
A GB is useless without all the other crap you need in your life to use it, including time. And that's not even including redundancy, offsite backup, policy burdens, warranties, software license costs, etc, which you may or may not want. You definitely don't want those things at the level a major company needs, because if your shit crashes, it's just you, and not lost sales that cost people their jobs permanently.
It's expensive, and I imagine they roll that cost up so you don't get a 50 page itemized booklet of every single thing that makes a GB accessible.
Statistics are no substitute for judgement. -- Henry Clay
