strategy

I've had the 32GB iPad for almost two weeks now and I'm really happy with my purchase. There are not as many apps available at this early stage as I had hoped, but I suspect that there are many developers working furiously to make their app ready for the new device.

So far, most of the apps I've tried for iPad are fine-tuned, HD versions of their iPhone counterparts. While it can be a little hit or miss as far as whether they are worth the extra cash (especially if you already paid for them on iPhone), … Read more

tChess is one of the best chess apps available for the iPhone and iPad. The low-priced Lite version offers many of the features of tChess Pro, including an elegant interface and lots of in-game extras. (Both versions have variable difficulty settings, but tChess Lite taps out at a 1200 ELO rating, which "corresponds to a strong casual player but is weaker than an average chess club player.")

tChess Lite offers an excellent interface for chess learners, whether passing the device in two-player mode, or solo against the AI, with a clean, 2D board view that you can flip … Read more

We Rule is a real-time kingdom simulation game where you'll need to earn money to expand your kingdom. Earning money in We Rule requires that you grow crops and build factories and shops that will bring in a steady income over time. The touch-screen interface is fairly intuitive for choosing what type of objects you want to build, but lacks descriptions of buildings making it difficult to predict how much income you will gain by placing a specific type of building. Part of the fun is finding out which building will net you the most cash. You also can … Read more

Castle Conflict is a charming little arcade strategy game that has gotten much better since its limited debut.

Based on a fairly primitive desktop game, Castle Conflict starts with a straightforward premise: two castles fighting against each other, sending out units to do battle and gather resources (i.e., the trees that pop up randomly in the middle of the battlefield). You play the castle on the left, on a small 2D screen, and as you build up resources, you press touchscreen buttons to create new units. You start with a limited palette of units: cheap but fragile peasants to … Read more

Google has been following me around lately.

I'm not sure if I've made one inadvertent comment too many about my liberal lords and masters, but whichever Web page I happen to visit in order to seek some temporary respite from my complicated life, there I find an ad suggesting I should buy a Nexus One.

Actually, it's hard to call these things "ads." They're little pictures of the Nexus One. Some have no message to speak of. Others enjoy lines such as "it's ultra-light." This is a line I associate most … Read more

Bleh. Enough with the hardware. Yesterday's quad-core desktop sold out quicker than a congressman in an election year. (Hi-yo!)

Today I've got three, three, three deals for the price of one. And because they're all software, and all downloadable, there's no sellout risk. (They do have time limits, though, so get clickin' on the ones you want.)

1. MacHeist nanoBundle 2 It's the return of one of my all-time favorite deals! For just $19.95 you get seven great Mac apps, which have a combined value of $260. Even better, 25 percent of the proceeds … Read more

We need to rethink the traditional combination of CEO, COO, CTO, CMO and CFO. Back when companies were about routinization and optimization for efficiency and profit in stable industries perhaps this combination made sense, but in today's complex world it is woefully inadequate. As Dan Pink writes in his new book Drive, most organizations today are less based on procedural algorithms and must run on ad hoc heuristics. The tidy C-suite club of old just doesn't cut it in today's messy, disruptive, complex world.

There has been actually been quite a lot of action on this front:… Read more

What's better than a freebie? A freebie that's actually decent. Case in point: Electronic Arts is giving away three awesome real-time strategy games--one of which all but defined the genre.

For a total cost of zero dollars, you can download Command & Conquer: Tiberian Dawn, Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun, and Command & Conquer: Red Alert.

Yes, they're old, but so is this giveaway--as I've just learned from CNET's John P. Falcone, who wrote about these and other free PC games more than two years ago.

Yes, the graphics look dated--really dated. And, yes, you have to jump through some downright obnoxious hoops to get them to run on Windows XP or later. (Hey, thanks and everything, EA. But would it have killed you to provide a simple installer?)

On the other hand, you're in for hours, days, maybe even weeks of solid RTS entertainment. The very first time I played Tiberian Dawn, which was originally known simply as Command & Conquer, I became a lifelong fan of the genre. Red Alert was even better, and GameSpot agreed, awarding it a 9.5.… Read more

Cable companies may be raking in profits as they add more broadband subscribers, but price-sensitive consumers may only be a discount away from ditching them.

On Wednesday Comcast, the nation's largest cable operator, announced it had more than doubled its fourth-quarter earnings, due in large part to a promotional push that resulted in 247,000 new high-speed Internet subscribers. Time Warner Cable, which announced fourth-quarter earnings last week, also swung to a profit, buoyed by gains in broadband Internet and phone subscribers.

But even though these companies managed to report profits and a boost in new broadband subscribers, they … Read more