Check out this great article at Touch Arcade on Reiner Knizia and the iPhone. For those of you who don't know, I'm sort of a board game geek (along with the rest of my family) and we all regard Knizia as the master of creating fantastic games. His trademark style are games where your winning score is the total of the weakest element of your strategy--ignore one aspect of the game and you're going to lose. It's all about balance!

Now he's developing for the iPhone, which is great news for all.

Reiner Knizia holds a PhD in mathematics, and is credit with publishing over 500 different puzzle games, many earning various awards worldwide. Developing his first game at the age of 6, Knizia left a job as a boardmember of an international bank in 1997 to pursue game designing full time. Since then, he has been admitted to the Gaming Hall of Fame and redeveloped several of his old games along with creating new games for the PC, home consoles, and iPhone.

His latest iPhone game, Topas [$1.99], tasks players with placing colored domino-like tiles on a game board in three included game modes. To place tiles, you drag them around with your finger, and tiles can be rotated by tapping on screen with another finger. Tiles are placed on the board following a few simple rules: They must be placed with the whole tile fitting on the game board, every tile must be placed next to another, and the aligned gems on the tiles cannot total more than 8. Points are awarded for the number of gems lined up with each tile placed, and Topas has Agon online leaderboards for each of the game modes.

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Dear Apple,

Ever since you revealed the iPad, I've been thinking about my current computer setup.

I think I've got some good news for you: I'm ready to give up my current lifestyle. I don't use discs anymore because of your great iPhone apps and iTunes Store--everything I buy is digital. And, for the most part, I really don't need a big setup anymore. So I'm ready to switch to your iPad. It's going to give me basic word processing, spreadsheet editing, and presentation making tools. Plus, all the iPhone apps are already compatible, including some great, easy-to-use video editors (speaking of which, when are you porting iMovie over?).

However, for me to switch, I need you to meet me halfway. I don't necessarily need a USB port on the iPad, but I do need to be able to backup the iPad wirelessly. And I have some options for this: 1) Let me upload all my music, photos, and the rest of my files to MobileMe and let me sync my iPhone and iPad wirelessly or 2) Let me backup my iPad and iPhone to something like your Time Capsule and also let me sync wirelessly when I need to.

This is really not that complicated. I know cloud computing is coming and I'm willing to meet you there. I'll give you all my files (and my wife's files) for you to backup to either your paid online service or your expensive wireless hard drive. Then, we'll buy all the Apps and content we'll ever need, directly from you. I'll have my iPad and its fancy keyboard dock when I need to do heavy typing, but I'll always keep my iPhone on me. I just need somewhere to backup the files and sync my 2 devices. You've got options!

And as a final request, can you create a wireless disc burner? That way, if I create a DVD using your new iPad iMovie and iDVD apps, I can quickly burn a CD without needing a computer. Of course, I'll want to backup an image of that file on either the Time Capsule or MobileMe, but I'm sure that won't be a problem.

I really don't think this is an unreasonable request. You're building all these great tools for me to use and I want to take advantage of them. I'm tired of backing up my computer every night and constantly dealing with annoying computer problems. I just want the iPad/iPhone combo with some sort of wireless backup for retrieval and storage purposes.

Thank you for listening!

Ryan

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I went to bed on Wednesday pleased with Apple's big announcement, but somewhat discouraged that it didn't really have a place in my digital life.

Then, the following morning, it hit me! What if the iPad replaced my laptop? Afterall, I don't use CDs or DVDs ever, there are very few applications for which there doesn't exist a good iPhone app alternative, and I like the idea of a tablet.

But, this morning, I realized why I can't do it. Yet.

1) How does one backup the iPad? Once I get everything on it, don't I need a laptop to back it up? Can I use time machine?

2) What if I need to burn a disc? Can I hook up a MBA-type drive to the dock and use it that way?

Those are my initial reasons. Does anyone have a solution? Because I like the idea of a tablet. I just can't seem to make it work...

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On February 22, I will be starting my new position as the director of communications for the Workforce Development Institute.

With 8 regional offices across New York, WDI supports organized labor and working families. The organization provides workforce intelligence: education and training programs, cultural activities, family support services, information, and referral, economic and public policy research, program development and advocacy.

Obviously, I have mixed emotions. I'm thrilled about the opportunity, but am saddened to say good-bye to so many great people I've met at AIER. I wish them the very best of luck in the future.

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You can go to Engadget for the latest and greatest coverage on the iPad:

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/27/apple-ipad-first-hands-on/

But, assuming you already know everything about it, here are my thoughts.

• I like the new iBooks store and functionality--it's a great way of getting competitive in a growing market.
  
• I love the fact that this is really just a large iPhone that has better, more complex apps and, because of the increased real estate, a better user interface.
• I really love the idea of a $29 unlimited data plan that is not contract based. That's just wonderful if and when you need it. And it's a heck of a lot cheaper than cable or DSL. Plus, it's available anywhere.
• I'm not such a big fan of the lack of a camera on the device. There should be a forward facing camera.
• I'm really, really not a fan of the lack of multi-tasking. That's just an epic fail. I already want to be able to use multiple apps on my iPhone, but I really can't imagine being restricted to using just one on the iPad.
• Finally, it should have been called the iSlate. iPad's sort of lame.

And I stand by my prediction. Just like the iPhone wasn't perfect, the iPad isn't either. But it is going to change the media world. We're just beginning to see how.

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Over the past couple days, I've been reviewing cover letters and resumes for a new position at AIER. As I look them over, I'm struck by a few recurring problems that seem to plague cover letters.

1. Please, please don't have typos or grammatical errors in your cover letter. I know you've heard that a thousand times before, but it cannot be stressed enough. Read, re-read, and re-read your resume and cover letter a thousand times. And, while you're at it, go contact your smartest friend and have her give it a look over.
2. Avoid long bullet lists. Fine, if you really have to use bullets, make sure it highlights a few of your most important accomplishments. But 10 or 12 bullets in your cover letter? This is beginning to read like an abbreviated, poorly designed version of your resume.
3. Don't go smaller than 12-pt font. I'm  young enough to be able to read 6-pt font, but that doesn't mean I want to. Learn how to narrow down your cover letter to the most important points instead of narrowing down your font to cover all the different things you've done.

Please.

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Just how important is the Apple tablet to Steve Jobs? According to several sources, Jobs has been reported as saying the iSlate "will be the most important thing I've ever done." Or maybe it's going to be called the iPad...who knows!? All I know is that it's going to be big.

And here's some absolutely wonderful news. According to the website HotHardware,

...an inside source close to the going-ons involved in all of this [claims that] a new tablet of some sort may not be the only thing on deck for next Wednesday though. We have been led to believe by an inside source that AT&T will lose their iPhone exclusivity on the same day, though it's not yet clear what other carrier (or carriers) will be stepping in to also carry the phone.

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I had the treat of creating a website for a coworker's partner, Arthur Yanoff. Yanoff is an extremely accomplished abstract painter whose work really stands out in the current field of abstract artists.

I'm not usually a fan of abstract work, but I think Yanoff's has real strength. Click the link below and explore.

http://yanoff.carbonmade.com/

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