I use Nooks for my paperback library (having finally come to appreciate that media MORE than dead trees! :< )
I have many of them as it lets me read different things in different places without having to lug one around with me.
Ditto for SWMBO.
And, for friends who want to "borrow a book" (something I always dreaded with dead trees as you'd get the book back with a broken spine, dog-eared pages, etc. -- sometimes even NOTES written inside!)
I can just copy whatever title(s) are desired onto the Nook and admonish them not to forget where they got it! (i.e., this is a loan, not a gift).
A neighbor called, excited to find *puzzles* on the Nook she'd borrowed. I cautioned her that there were a limited number of crossword puzzles (so, sooner or later, you will recognize one that you'd solved previously).
But, I *thought* the Sudoku puzzles were created on the fly (it's hard to recognize if you've already solved one, esp if they are prestored in symbolic form whereby every 3 can be replaced with a 2 and a new APPEARING puzzle created).
Which got me thinking about how you would dynamically create such a puzzle, given that it would have to be solvable (algorithmically, not just by chance).
Which got me thinking of the tougher problem: creating a *crossword* from scratch! Without just relying on an exhaustive attempt to paste words from a (constrained) glossary onto a grid.
I recall an adviser's relating how his son was so proud to have created his first "symmetric" crossword so it's got to be a tedious task "manually". Especially for "themed" puzzles.
So, are the published puzzles (e.g., NYT) created by machine? Or, is someone buzy with quadrille pads each week trying to get the puzzle ready for NEXT week?