Alice, on the iPad

Well ... There seems to an iPad book theme going here ... So I might as well tag the coolest thing I've seen on the iPad ... It's called Alice.

Alice is an electronic book "for children" -- but it is really for anyone who craves cool iPad programing like a junk fiend. So play the video. You will twist & toss Wonderland mushrooms in a way you never thought possible. A wonderful little app, indeed.

As the tech blog, Gizmodo, says:

The app is available for $9 or as a free "lite" version. And while it doesn't seem to be intended for adults, I couldn't be more fascinated by it. It's quite possible the cleverest book I've seen so far and exactly how I dreamed books would look one day. [iTunes (Lite Version) and iTunes (Full Version)]

The making of an iPad book

OK guys, let me be honest: I haven't been blogging much because my iPad book, Surfing the Middle East, is about to come out ... in less than a month.

Crazy, indeed.

At this point the writing has come to and end (at least for this first installment of the book) and I am now basically paring media up with the text. I'm going to start leaking pages inside the book soon, but before I do, I want to share this YouTube video I did on how the text gets paired up with the pictures, videos, graphics, articles, Hotspots, and more.

Enjoy!

Addition: I recommend reading Qifa Nabki's review of Marc Lynch ... and his take on the Special Tribunal For Lebanon.

"Terrorists are evil and they may be part of the solution."

From Tom Ricks:

Is there ever an appropriate time and a morally supportable reason for a government sit down and bargain with people who have blood on their hands? That's the important but messy question addressed by Mitchell Reiss in his new book, Negotiating With Evil: When to Talk to Terrorists. Reiss, a veteran U.S. diplomat, comes to some conclusions that I think are correct but may make many Americans uneasy.

His bottom line: "Terrorists are evil and they may be part of the solution." (243) People who have actually had to think through that conflicting proposition seem to agree with him. Anyone worth talking to, advises a CIA clandestine official, is complicit. The CIA man's chilling bottom line: "[P]eople without blood on their hands… don't matter." (244) (I would make that the quote of the day but it is too damn depressing.)