• Lucas Blair has posted part 3 of his "How to Design Effective Achievements" article series on Gamasutra. This series focuses on video games, but is worth a look for anyone including solo rules with a design.
• Shannon Appelcline details what's going on behind the scenes with the various AIs in his iOS adaption of Knizia's Modern Art: The Card Game.
• Michael Schacht and German site Die Pöppelkiste have organized a game giveaway for three Schacht titles. To enter the contest, you need to complete a Mondo Solo puzzle on Schacht's website, specifically the puzzle titled "Poeppelkiste". To find this puzzle, sign up for an account or log in, then click "Join Game".
• Old news of sorts: The New York Times ran an obituary for Ned Strongin on April 18, 2011, noting that in addition to creating Weebles, he was "co-inventor of Connect Four".
Now, the designer of Connect Four according to BGG (as of May 26, 2011) is Howard Wexler, and if you search for "Howard Wexler", every article or profile of him describes Wexler as the inventor of Connect Four, not the co-inventor. The only mention of Strongin in connection with Connect Four that I can find is from obituaries about the man, as in this (somewhat botched) transcription of an article from the May 13, 2011 Newport Beach Independent. An excerpt, with corrections:
"Since then, Connect Four has generated a considerable amount of money," Mike Strongin said.
"Ned's NYC studio on Broadway was always a go-to stop in search of new game ideas. You could count on strong concepts from his creative design staff presented by Ned himself. He had a real love for the toy and game industry," said Ron Weingartner, partner of toy consulting firm Weingartner Associates. Weingartner formerly worked in game development and inventor relations for Hasbro Games, Parker Brothers and Milton Bradley (the latter, during the time in 1973 when the company first licensed Connect 4).