Cell Phone vs Home Phone…

Over 15 years ago I took up a cell phone, and except for when I had to have a land line in order to have an internet connection or, in the early days, BBS connection, I tended to not have a land.

With the cost of VoIP systems these days, the research that says cell phones could be causing some major health problem for us, and just so I’m not so “connected” 24/7, I’m VERY seriously considering jumping the current trend and going back to just having a land line, via the Internet and the VoIP protocol… The cost is going to be about $15/month for unlimited calling, voice mail, online access to voice mail, e911, and a BUNCH of other GREAT features, including free 411, which cost on the cell phone! I will probably get a cheap AT&T goPhone for travel emergencies, etc., but it would be off unless needed, and on the cheapest connection cost I can get.. (Or some other brand if I find one cheaper that I like…)

I have grown weary of the texting, constant access to email, etc., that the cell phone provides. It chirps or rings in the middle of important studies, events, etc. And I feel I have to leave it on all the time, even if I don’t…

Growing trend?

I’ve been blogging for several years now, and recently I’ve seen a trend that I’m not sure I like. In fact, I KNOW I don’t like it.

People are writing their blogs with short excerpts on the front page, with a “read more”, “click here to continue” link at the end of the excerpt, which then takes you to the whole message they have written. When I see these blogs, unless the excerpt is EXCEPTIONALLY good and leading, I tend to ignore the whole blog and move on.

Why do this? Is it to get more entries on one page? That is the only reason I can see to do it. It is not to keep them on your blog, as they are already there…

Now, I can see submitting only excerpts to sites such as bloglines.com and such so you get the reader to come to your site, and hopefully stay a while, but in general, the front page of your blog, to me, should have the whole message there and not require me to click to read it all.

Another trend is in format, again one I’m not liking, and how the blog looks. Many people are choosing a three column format in which two of the columns have squares of excerpts with the “read more” and the third column is full of ads and junk. Looks VERY cluttered to me, and is often difficult to read, so I move on and don’t read them….

Another one of those I don’t get it days I guess…