As 2008 draws to a close I present to you my list of Top 10 Free iPhone Apps. Coincidentally, all these apps will work on the iPod Touch as well. So, in no particular order, here we go!

1. NYTimes – This app courtesy of the New York Times makes it super easy to browse through the paper. I especially like the browse by photos section. Articles cache for easy offline (airplane) viewing.

2. Locly – Awesome for finding out what’s nearby when you travel. I’ve tried a few other apps of this sort, but Locly is the best. The current version allows you to search for: Flicker Images*, Local Twitters*, Wikipedia Articles*, Local Events, News from outside.in, Restaurants, Pubs, Cafes, Shops and Supermarkets, Taxi Firms, Films and Movies, Museums*, Hotels, Banks and ATMs, and Gas Stations. I starred (*) the ones I use Locly for the most.

3. Wikipanion – I like to reference the Wiki a lot, and this app makes it a much more plesant experience than going to Wiki via Safari. It’s a must have.

4. Sol Free – Every iPhone needs a good solitare game, and this one is the best free app available. There’s a paid version of this app, but the free one comes with a few styles of solitare including the classic “Klondike Deal 3″, which is really all you need to pass the time.

5. Shazam – I had this app for awhile before I actually used it, but when I did I was amazed! It listens to the music that’s playing around you, and then tells you the name of the song, artist and album. Shazam easily picked out “Bad Up Your Betterness” by the Presets in a sushi restaurant in Austin, and B.I.G.’s “Hypnotize” from radio in the car.

6. MiniPiano – A one-octive mini piano, plain and simple. Sounds great and plays easy. Unlike other piano apps, you can slide your finger down the keyboard to produce a glissando effect without having to press each key individually. Fun for kids!

7. TwitterFon – Everyone (including me) uses Twitterific, but here’s a shout out to another app I use called TwitterFon. It’s easily just as good as Twitterific PLUS it lets you Search for tweets (even based on your current location), so it’s easy to see who’s tweeting around you.

8. Chess – This app lets you have a game of chess with another iPhone-based player. Play someone sitting right next to you, or someone around the world. I had been looking for a free chess app for awhile, and this one takes the cake.

9. Pandora – Pandora is totally awesome. Enter a musician or band name and Pandora will create and endless stream of music from that artist as well as music by other artists that share the same genres. It’s completely commercial free (except for a small on-screen ad), and the music plays uninterrupted. Vote each song Pandora plays thumbs-up or thumbs-down and Pandora will customize the music it plays. It’s a great way to find new music. And it even sounds great over a 3G connection.

10. Showtimes – The mission of this app is to show you what’s playing at nearby movie theaters. Showtimes’ interface is super easy to navigate and includes results from multiple theaters, movie ratings, summaries, and trailers. Great when traveling and when at home.

Honorable mentions:

Video Poker – simple and fun!

Tangrams – 70 puzzles in this holiday edition.

Mobile News – AP newswire, includes local search.

Hanoi – the deceivingly difficult game I love to hate.

Blanks – fun word definition game.

FlyCast – streaming radio of all sorts (how I get WEFUNK on the road).

I’m one of the minority of meat-eaters here at AWP, and even then, I don’t eat a lot of meat (thanks a lot, Omnivore’s Dilemma), and we’re always on the lookout for places that serve up a good dose of ethically treated, naturally grazed animal slices. It’s kind of a treat when Mel and I do get some.

For the past few weeks at the Ithaca Farmer’s Market, we’ve noticed a new stand with a delicious-sounding name: The Piggery.  I like Pig (meat) and I like locally-raised food, so I knew we had to check it out.

Anyway, we made our first purchase there on Sunday: two pounds of tenderloin and a couple of bratwurst.  Last night, we rubbed the tenderloin in salt and fresh cracked pepper and tossed it on the grill.  Man, was it amazing.  The Piggery raises some good pig.  I’m sure it helps that they treat them well, and that they eat pumpkins. The meat was tender and naturally juicy, without any hit of that spongy texture that most store-bought tenderloin has.  The flavor was stronger and fuller than store-bought stuff as well.

So if you dig on pig and live near Ithaca, you should check it out.  I’m hooked.

In case you haven’t gotten it already, here, at Ancient Wisdom, we tend to like music, a lot actually, and at least one of us is especially talented.

Part of our musical inclination leads us to discover the wide variety of music new and old out there. I like to call it our musical education. And I have learned about way more music in the past few months than at any other time in my life. Keeping our musical selection lively in our office keeps our office going, for sure.

The best is when you discover a new song that you just can’t stop listening to. This doesn’t happen every day. Tyler acquired this great song on iTunes for free no less, “Time to Pretend” by MGMT, found on Oracular Spectacular. (more…)

Just saw a great documentary that I thought I’d review (in an attempt to win Tyler’s “blog today!” contest). It’s called “My Kid Could Paint That“, and it’s about a 4-year old girl named Marla from Binghamton, New York who has an amazing ability to create beautifully mature abstract paintings. A quick summary from NetFlix (my main source for DVDs):

Amir Bar-Lev directs this thought-provoking documentary about a precocious 4-year-old artist whose abstract works have drawn critical comparisons with modernist greats such as Kandinsky, Picasso and Pollack — and whose talents have already profited her more than $300,000. Is her gift with a paintbrush just an illusion, or is she truly an artistic visionary trapped in the body of a child?

Inspiration or manipulation??? I won’t reveal to you what happens because Amir does a wonderful job of telling the story as it unfolded… but let’s just say it’s not so pretty at the end. Amir gives a balanced take on the events and leaves you as the viewer to decide what really happened. And it’s the kind of movie that you just have to talk about immediately after watching it. Admittedly, I was also really intrigued because of the local proximity of the story.

So add this right to the top of your Queue, this is a must-see documentary!

I’ve gathered together some of my all-time favorite Mac programs for you to check out! In no particular order I give you…

1. Little Snitch

I’m the kind of person who just likes to know when my computer is accessing the internet. Especially when trying out new software that I’ve never used before. Little Snitch is awesome because it alerts me any time a program on my computer wants to access the internet. In such a case, a little pop-up alerts me to the program that is attempting access along with the URL and port # of the attempted request. From this pop-up window you can choose to allow or deny the request. Now I feel safe knowing that I’m in control of my computer’s access to the web.

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