CDEarth : Sudoku computer game no fad

Sudoku started out seemingly as just another fad. It was already a huge hit in Japan. But then it swept England and within a year was carried by hundreds of newspapers in the United States. Sudoku puzzles have been the focus of dozens of books, many of bestsellers on the top 100 book list.

The press has been equally enamoured by this deceptively simple numbers puzzle. "Not since - well, ever - have the numbers 1 to 9 been so popular" writes Time Magazine. The New York Post raves its "diabolically addictive" and the conservative, staunchly Economist blushes that Sudoku is "nothing short of astonishing".

Sudoku (also called Su Doku or Numbers Place) like many great mind games has simple instructions yet can be quite addicting and with its own levels of difficulty. The objective is to fill a 9x9 grid so that each column, each row, and each of the nine 3x3 boxes contains the digits from 1 to 9. The puzzle setter provides a partially completed grid.



New variations on this game include having a larger grid such as 9x9, 16x16 and even 25x25 for those who frankly need to watch more TV. Other variations substitute symbols or pictures for the numbers. The Sudoku craze has also spun new games like Kakuro (also called Cross Sums) and Nanograms.

Since this is a computer and software related blog, we are obligated to mention that the best way to learn and play Sudoku is on your computer. Many great Sudoku computer games can generate new puzzles as fast as you can solve them. That way you don't have to way for tomorrow's newspaper to satisfy your Sudoku addiction.

CDEarth has a terrific Sudoku version you may want to check out. In addition to Sudoku, the CD comes with a bonus 10 additional puzzles games.

CdEarth: Personal Finance Software makes money sense

Does anyone actually balance their checkbook? The chore has to be up there with programming the VCR clock and flossing. We know we should do it but we'll get to it tomorrow.

The problem is made worse when we realize we have multiple checking and savings accounts to keep track of. Throw in the retirement accounts (hopefully we have some) and other investments (hopefully they're up) and suddenly we realize we have no idea what is where and, most importantly, how much.

Luckily, inexpensive or free personal finance software can help you organize your finances and keeps track of where, when and how the money goes. It is also a great tool to get a big picture of your financial net worth.

There are some excellent products on the market including the two most popular retail packages, Quicken Intuit and Microsoft Money. The inexpensive and even free personal finance software surprisingly have most of the features of these more expensive retail products.

When looking for a personal finance software, some of the features you will want to look for:

• Manage Multiple Accounts - Create and maintain an electronic checkbook - Checking, Savings, Credit Card or Loans, Stock Investment Accounts, Assets

• Track your Bills and Deposits - Create bills & deposits to be reminded of your upcoming bills and deposits so you never miss a payment or deposit

• Importing, Exporting and Printing - Ability to import, export and print your account information
• Account Summary Views and Navigation - An easy to use tree view navigator to navigate across accounts and summarized views of your accounts, upcoming bills & deposits and income vs. expenses
• Reporting - Generate reports so you can easily view your spending/expenses in a wide variety of ways. View spending by category over a date range for specific or all accounts. View spending on a single category over time. View income vs expenses. View spending by payee. View expenses and how you are doing on a budget.

CD Earth has an excellent Personal Wealth Manager you might want to check out.