I would be very interested in getting more details about the problem you are having with the Newest Nodes client, so that I (or Shendal, but most likely the problem is in my end) can fix it. I have tried to make the NewestNodes.pm module resistent against some of the server "misbehaviors" that I have encountered, but I'm sure I haven't encountered all of them.

Once you get the Newest Nodes client working, it should serve your original purpose, because it marks read nodes in a different color. And the latest version even keeps persistent state, so you can exit the client, come back later and still know which nodes you have read.

--ZZamboni