Seems like a lot of the information on the internet about this is out of date, and there is much old and unmaintained software. Here's what worked for me. I'm running Linux Mint 17, which is based on Ubuntu 14. This should also work on Debian.
So I have a SmartBro modem, which I use when my main internet connection breaks. A lot of the time it sits in my drawer, and I just top up the balance every 3 months with 30 pesos, to keep the number active. I can send the loads via online bank account, or coins.ph, or from any cornershop Loadz person, but how to check the balance when you're running Linux.
I've struggled with previous GSM modem interfaces before like Gnokii, and SMStools. This is waaaay simpler.
Gnome System Log Viewer. No such file
The default log viewer application that comes with Ubuntu, Mint etc, is called gnome-system-log. Sometimes it tries to display logs which don't exist and comes up with an error, eg: "Error when getting information for file '/var/log/mail.log': No such file or directory". However there is no obvious way to clear this message and stop it … Read more