Ever since instant messengers (the same as what you find on ordinary computers) became available on cell phones, a lot of people have been using them instead of the original SMS text messaging options. These instant messengers may be free when used on a computer but most cell phone companies charge a fee, just like SMS, although it may be a lot cheaper than SMS. The convenience of the "computer to cell phone" connection capability, however, adds a twist to text messaging: Unwanted texting partners.

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When you live in the tropics where heat and humidity wreak havoc on electronics, a keypad isn't a good idea. My Whirlpool microwave oven, purchased in October or November of 2006, died in July of 2008 after months of strange keypad behavior. It was replaced about a month later with a Fujidenzo microwave oven.

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Shortly after I published my previous article on magicJack, I received a message from Gloria Tzou, the lady in charge of marketing at IMO. She thought I'd be interested in IMO and passed me the recent press release. At first I had flashbacks of "Meebo", but quickly realized this is so much more.

I haven't really tested the service yet, so I'm going to give you my initial impressions and then post the press release.

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I've written about cheap calls to and from the Philippines a couple of times and each time I mentioned Skype as what I considered the best solution. A number of people have left enough comments about magicJack being better and cheaper than Skype that I decided to do a little research.

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Calling international telephone numbers from the US to land lines in the Philippines can be confusing enough all by itself. If you add cell phones to the mix, it gets even more confusing. Prompted by an email question from a reader, I'm going to explain how to call both land lines and cell phones from the US to the Philippines. It's simple, but I forget how to do it and I live here. My first response to the email was wrong.

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Ever since I discovered a particular shopping venue, I've pretty much kept my mouth shut about what I found there. I'll tell you why when I wrap this all up. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of different kinds of electronics are all available in one place, from Apple iPhones to Microsoft Zunes. I'm talking about imported products made by everyone under the sun, or so it seems like.

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I have a rice cooker in my kitchen, one of many handy kitchen gadgets, that looks very similar to that in the picture. It's the same brand (Zojirushi), but the difference is there's a cradle on the left side for the serving spoon. When I and my wife moved to the Philippines in 2006, we brought our rice cooker with us, so it uses 110 volts instead of the Filipino standard of 220 volts.

When we bought our first electric rice cooker years ago, I joked that my wife was my little Filipino rice cooker and I didn't need an electric one (kind of like being my dishwasher). She wasn't amused and I received a swift kick for that remark.

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