Expat Matters
Learn the ins and outs of expat life from our experts.
Talk for free, wherever you are
Date: 10/03/2007
When living overseas, one of the most costly items can be your long-distance telephone bill as you talk to friends and family back home. This month we'll look at one low-cost solution, Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, using a PC dialer. Next month, we'll cover broadband phones.
Simply put, VoIP technology allows a computer user to talk over the Internet, using a microphone and a headset, by dialing a virtual phone that appears on the PC monitor. There are two modes of operation: PC-to-PC, that is, speaking to someone who is also on a computer; and PC-to-Phone, where you're using your computer to dial up a phone.
Read OnThe 52nd Eurovision Song Contest: And the winning song is…
Date: 05/08/2007It's that time of year again-my friends are already planning what to eat and drink on May 12 in front of the TV. No, it's not another football or rugby tournament, but one of the most watched non-sporting events in the world: the 52nd Eurovision Song Contest.
Read OnConfessions of a Gringo in Paradise
Date: 05/13/2007At one time, I believed the kinds of self-contained gringo groups you find residing in private residential communities (particularly in Latin America) didn't appeal to me. Give me real life, I thought. Drop me in among the locals.
Read OnCan You Guarantee You Have Enough Money to Retire?
Date: 05/22/2007When we retired, we had a tax issue hanging over our heads. I worked through the numbers and set aside mental reserves. But we weren't sure. Who knows what the tax people might do? I wanted a guarantee that our reserves were enough.
Read OnWho Do You Call When Paradise Lets You Down?
Date: 06/03/2007More than a decade ago, some friends and I invested in a piece of land on the south Pacific coast of Nicaragua. We weren't savvy international property developers. We just liked what we saw. Even if this Rancho Santana is never worth more than we're paying for it today, we told ourselves, we won't mind. This is a remarkably beautiful spot.
Read OnOld Friends, New Friends, and Rich Adventures
Date: 06/17/2007A couple of Saturdays ago, I met an old friend, Jen Stevens, for lunch at a café here in Paris. Jen was for years my top editor at IL, but it had been seven years since I'd seen her.
Read OnIL Slashes Prices--For Just 5 More Days
Date: 07/27/2007Can you believe how fast the summer has gone? The month of July is almost over and along with it our Summer Sizzler Sale. Come Aug. 1 all prices in the IL Bookstore go back to retail. You have but a few more days to save up to 27% off everything from courses to publications to exclusive titles.
Read OnMega, Colossal, Huge…Ultimate II
Date: 08/12/2007It has taken us more than 27 years to pull this together, and, at the risk of sounding immodest, I've got to say: Nothing compares, and no one competes.
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