Where is the News?

In the past, I have subscribed to several "tech news" email resources that once provided fairly regular articles that addressed common problems in user-friendly but sufficiently technical ways to help with getting a little more out of your computer. Since the frenzy over notepads, smart phones, and especially "touch pads" anything resembling helpful information has disappeared. What is represented as "technical advice" has been nothing more than blatant advertising for whichever is the newest "gadget." There has been virtually nothing about "how to make that work better," replaced by "this new thing is better and you must buy it." (But they don't even bother to say what is better about the new thing.)

It appears that the "technical newsletters" I previously received have simply disappeared, and it's been about two years since I've seen any discussion of how anything works. The publishers have substituted what "they know everybody wants" – e.g. how to spend more money to do less.

Additionally, all of the "web newspapers" I previously consulted have abruptly converted to Win8/Touchscreen formats, and instead of articles with sufficient headlines to give an idea of whether something is worth looking at, sorted to some extent by subject categories, there's now just a "random splatter" of unintelligible pretty pictures, often with no text at all.

I'm finding it increasingly difficult to get my daily dose of "whazzup in the world."

A recent article, that makes reference to several news sources that previously were "useful" with a little effort, lists the "15 Most Popular News Websites." (It looks like these may be the "most popular in the US," but it's hard to tell.)

While I can see, perhaps, why they're popular, I'm having difficulty finding much of any news in any of them, in their newer formats, even when it looks like there might be something there and I just can't find it.

Subject 1: Maybe those here who are a little smarter than I am would like to comment on those "15 popular" sites. Your information on why one looks useful, and how you'd use it, might help me figure out how to get more from one – or more – of them(?).

Subject 2: Several people here do apparently have some other favorite sources. Any nominations of some other good ones? (Links, or at least URLs, appreciated.)

John