It's time for the August snippets! This month's snippets have two themes – Math fun and FREE stuff!

• The folks over at MathTutorDVD.com have a free weekly video podcast called Mental Math Secrets (iTunes Link). Each week, one math trick is taught on a whiteboard, and explained in detail. They're quite clear, and the weekly nature of the podcast gives you time to master it before learning the next one.

• Ever play Dots and Boxes? You can try a free javascript version online, playing against the computer here, or against another player here. If you play long enough, you might be wondering if there's strategies that can help you win. There sure are, and the best place to learn them that I've ever found is Ilan Vardi's free online course Mathter of the Game. Check it out for an eye-opening look at a seemingly simple game.

• After writing about things like Nim and Corner The Lady, I thought it would be fun to be able to play these against others on my iPad. While there are limited Nim choices and zero Corner the Lady choices in iPad apps, there is a solution: Metaversal Studios' free GameRoom app (iTunes Link) to the rescue! Besides playing the built-in games of Checkers, Go, Reversi, Mancala, and Halma, there's a custom mode that allows you to choose the board size (7x7 up to 20x20), and various features of the look of the board, and will enable you to play just about any grid-based game (or even some games where grids are irrelevant) against another player who agrees on the rules. Check it out!

• While I'm thinking about free iTunes apps, check out Peg Solitaire - BrainVita from TouchMeme (iTunes Link). This is the standard English Peg Solitaire (as opposed to the triangular “Cracker Barrel” version). It's no more or less than what it claims: The standard puzzle where you try to leave a peg in the center. If it fries your brain, there's an excellent and easily-remembered purge-and-package approach to solving it taught here.