strategy

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

As the economy has stalled, prices have fallen to match the increasingly frugal moods of consumers and businesses. Only Apple seems largely impervious to gravity, consistently scoring solid earnings and rising market share, all while keeping prices high.

You don't have to be an Apple fanboy to be grateful for Apple luxury. We all benefit from it, even if we've never bought a single Apple product.

In economics, "anchoring" refers to a pricing strategy whereby a vendor sets a product's price high to create perceived value ("What a deal!") for other, lower-priced products, … Read more

TowerMadness Zero is the free, ad-supported (and full) version of TowerMadness, a tower-defense game in which you defend a small herd of cute sheep against an advancing army of aliens (who want to turn your sheep into "a new scarf for their emperor").

The game and its interface will be familiar to fans of tower-defense games, with enemies from multiple UFOs attacking across an open plain at first, but then mixing in fixed-path and open-path challenges as the game progresses through 15 maps. You touch the map to build and upgrade towers, and you can use two fingers … Read more

Unblock Me Free is the free version of Unblock Me, a simple but stylishly made puzzle game in which you solve spatial challenges involving rectangular wooden blocks.

The gameplay and interface are fittingly simple: you use your touch screen to slide blocks back and forth inside a tight grid (only left and right, or up and down, depending on the block's placement), maneuvering them around in sequence so that you can slide a red block out of the grid. This setup is the same on every level, but each time you have to move a different set of blocks … Read more

Free of messy pegs and full of clever touches, Battleship for iPhone and iPod Touch ($2.99) gives the classic board game a terrific 21st-century makeover.

In addition to Classic mode, the game offers two new options: Salvo and Superweapons. In Salvo, you get to select one target for each ship in your fleet--meaning for the first few rounds at least, you get to lob five shots instead of just one.

Suffice it to say, that makes the game go much faster than a traditional Battleship exercise, which can easily last 30-40 minutes.

In Superweapons mode, you get to choose … Read more

We hear a lot of talk about enterprises moving IT toward a shared-services model. That raises the question: Where do they think they're going?

Roughly speaking, moving to a shared-services model means adopting a centralized, standardized, streamlined approach to IT. Like all idealizations, real enterprises can only imperfectly implement it. Nonetheless, it serves as a useful goal and measuring stick. Common elements and aspirations include:

Service-oriented: IT is thought of as a provider of services to a business--or, in some cases, multiple businesses. Every IT process, asset, and outcome is understood, operated, and judged in terms of services that … Read more

Tournament Strategy and Odds Calculator provides a helpful tool for figuring out your odds of success in a Texas Hold-em game. While the calculator is a great learning tool, the program falls flat in other departments.

The program's interface initially felt welcoming, with a few simple command options and in-depth instructions in the Help file. However, we were turned off when we couldn't join a poker game immediately. The program claimed it was "Searching for a Game," though it quickly became obvious we would need a Free License to play. However, the only way to get … Read more

Reading the business section of yesterday's New York Times, you couldn't help but notice the juxtaposition of two seemingly different companies, which, at second glance, have more in common that you might think. One is Bloomberg, the financial data juggernaut that has enough cash to aspire to become “the world’s most influential news organization.” The company has placed its bets on the acquisition of the venerable BusinessWeek, trusting that it will broaden its reach into a mainstream business audience. A few pages later, Digital Domain columnist Randall Stross reveals Apple’s pending patent application for a new advertising pop-up technology … Read more