Checked

I was admiring the newly selected theme for my Google personalized home page when I noticed a link at the bottom for Google Checkout, Google's Paypal-like service.

I remember trying to sign up last month but couldn't actually do so because the Philippines was not listed. Well, I'm now happy to report that folks like me with Philippine billing addresses can now register! Thanks, Google.

Side note: If you sign up before March 31, you'll receive a $10 credit to your account, which you can use anytime before April 30.

Unable to Checkout

Stumbled across the Google Checkout blog today and was immediately interested in this Google service, since I'd not heard of it before.

From what I can see, it's being positioned as an alternative to Paypal.

It's just too bad that the Philippines isn't listed as one of the countries which can use this service. It's a truly sad state of affairs when users from Zimbabwe are welcome, but Filipinos aren't.