Cell Surfing & Template Issues

As I've mentioned earlier, I'm not surfing on the computer much these days. Instead I loaded a whole bunch of URLs into my cell phone so I can surf whenever I've a moment waiting with the kids, etc. I can't post comments from the phone, but I do manage to keep up with nearly everyone.

There are a few interesting notes. Some custom templates will show up without background interference. CindyS and Jenster come to mind immediately. As do Marg and Karen. Some templates show up with :P all over the background (eyes closed, tongue out smileys). These are blogs with a slight background detail. The smileys render the text unreadable. KristieJ's blog does this. :( Other custom templates, like Tara's, only show her photos and no posts.

So the long and the short of it is- I am keeping up with you via cell if your blog's template cooperates with my phone. However, if you've a custom template it's iffy and I may only get to visit you once a week or whatever and only from an actual computer.

Speaking of RSS feeds- many US print media websites are behind the times. Slackers. Only one or two or three feeds. Max. The Brits are much better at this kind of stuff. For example- the NYT RSS feed only has one or two pages of links (5-10 articles). C.S. Monitor? No feeds. Might be my cheapie cell phone, but even so, I'm surprised the major U.S. print news outlets are so far behind. The digital (tv, cable, online only, etc) media are up with the times. BBC, IHT, etc. have signifigantly more content online. The mainline print outlets are going to go the way of the dinosaur if they don't keep up with the times more & better. London Review of Books has a monthly feed, even.

I guess I'm just a news junkie. But the good old boy new guys? They'd better hop on the bandwagon & quick, before the parade passes them by. The sad thing about all of this is, I'm not a digital native- by a long shot. The digital natives at my house only read an actual newspaper for one thing. The comics. Any news they get online or from the tv or from their phones.