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Quikthinking Software Blog
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    0 Audio Game Part 2

    In an early 2018 update: Black History Audio Game (not the real title) I wrote about our efforts to create something new in the mobile game space. Despite the time lag this game is still under development. Compare the recent screen shot below to the one in 2018. Several elements have changed and we expect a lot more changes. I can say that the finish line is near. The complexities of this game needed time and attention rather than an effort to rush it out the door.   As you'll see in our About Quikthinking Software page, we've released 30 mobile apps since 2018 (while simultaneously working on development of this special audio game project). My sense is that by Black History Month February, 2023 or earlier, the first version of this new app will be released. Follow the revision journey in the months to come.

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    0 Blackjack 21 AA or Video Poker Jacks Or Better?

    • Games
    • by Kingsley H. Smith
    • 09/07/2022

    It's been awhile since we dropped a new game into the casual mobile game mix. We sometimes don't release everything we're working on. Here are two top candidates in the video below: Blackjack 21 AA, and Video Poker Jacks Or Better. I generally enjoy playing both games. Since 2019 during the early pandemic days, a hand-held 'Game Boy' sized video poker game grabbed lots of my time and attention. Would you believe since then, I've scored two royal flushes (Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and 10 all of the same suit) on this portable old school player! Here's a photo of one of them... I can't guarantee you two royal flushes within 3 years, but it's always fun trying to get one when the money you are playing with isn't real. Inspiration was the mother of invention for cooking up our spin on these extremely popular card games. Between Blackjack 21 AA and Video Poker Jacks Or Better, which one do you like the best? We'll release one, or both as mobile games. Video Poker Jacks Or Better is complete. Blackjack 21 AA has a few more very minor tweaks to hit the finish line.  Blackjack without the extras (insurance, doubling down, etc.) is the simpler game. Video poker requires much more strategy to learn how to win or not win from the five cards handed to you in the deal. As these are both casual mobile games, we've kept it simple and stuck to the basics. You'll find hardcore approaches elsewhere. Update September 20, 2022. Google Play was the first app store to approve Video Poker Jacks Or Better. Discover more on our game page. Update September 25, 2022. Google Play has approved the Blackjack 21 AA Card Game. Learn more on our game page. Update September 29, 2022. The Amazon App Store has approved Blackjack 21 AA. Play it on your Kindle tablet. Update October 3, 2022. Amazon approved Video Poker Jacks Or Better. Working with these app stores is like applying to college and once accepted, trying to maintain an 'A' grade point average! Yikes! So you want to play on your iPhone or iPad? Our MacBook Pro needs to be retired so we've just gotten a MacBook Air to speed up the iOS development for both of these games. Update October 10, 2022. The MacBook Pro was recently retired from duty. Video Poker Jacks Or Better and Blackjack 21 AA were developed for iOS using Unity (SDK) and the Xcode software development kit on a recycled MacBook Air. Update October 17, 2022 Apple has accepted to the App Store Video Poker Jacks Or Better VP. Update October 20, 2022. Apple has accepted to the App Store Blackjack 21 AA.

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    0 Moving On: The African American Museum In Philadelphia

    1976. The African American Museum, Philadelphia opened in center city Philly at 7th and Arch Street near Chinatown. Announced earlier this month, after 50 years, the facility will move to the Ben Franklin Parkway to occupy the same neighborhood as the other really big cultural arts facilities in town. At their new location the AAMP will be next door to the main branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia. AAMP will triple their current space in their new home. There is an estimated five year window impacting the move. A now vacant building next to the library will be renovated to house the new AAMP. Public money and private fundraising will finance the move. The possible grand opening: 2027. To discover more about 50 selected African American Museums or resources, grab our Black History Museums Mobile App a Best Mobile App Award Platinum Nominee. Watch my video from 2017 about the African American Museum in Philadelphia. Below the story is a link to our entire Black History Museums Video series on YouTube (and embedded in the app).  Watch all 12 Black History Museums VIP Tours on YouTube. Each digital tour is about 60 seconds.

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    0 Backpack Bounce Match 3 Game

    • Games
    • by Kingsley H. Smith
    • 08/24/2022

    Great backpacks get the job done! For a good time, watch the 29 second Backpack Bounce Match 3 Game video below. You swipe the backpacks to create two or more combinations. This mobile game features 20 different levels with different backpacks. Play the levels in any order you wish. "Angry" looking backpacks in some levels may make matches but those matches don't count! Bombs next to the non-angry backpack matches boost your score. Backpack Bounce is in the Apple App Store, Google Play, and Amazon app store. The Android version has been recently updated. See more details below the video.  For Android some of the screen layouts will render much better in version 3.4. The updated version (August 23, 2022) has been tested on Android 7, 8, 11 and Kindle Fire OS 7.3.2.4. Learn more about our... Backpack Bounce Match 3 Game Thanksgiving Match 3 Game and Thanksgiving Retro Match 3 Game

  • 0 Snatching Black History Pictures From The Classroom

    What would you do if your pictures of Martin Luther King Jr., Harriet Tubman, George Washington Carver, and Colin Powell were snatched from your "office" workspace?   Our pictures of King, Tubman, Carver, and Powell are scrambled above. More about that later. A classroom in a Pensacola, Florida elementary school is the "office workspace" I referenced. Do you think that pictures of these African American leaders are age appropriate for young kids? Are photos of George Washington or Benjamin Franklin in an elementary school classroom age appropriate? Is an image of Susan B. Anthony in the same environment age appropriate? I hope so especially if your likeness is on a one dollar coin. Kids love looking at and playing with piggy bank change! King, Tubman, Carver and Powell photos were pulled by co-workers from the O.J. Semmes Elementary School classroom according to teacher Michael James as reported by Minyvonne Burke and NBC News. James asserted to the Pensacola News Journal that he wanted to display the images so students, a majority of whom are Black, could see someone they could relate to. A couple of weeks before the start of the 2022 school year, James quit his job because of this incident. I don't blame him. This story reminds me of another period in my life when I was a program director for a contemporary local New Jersey music radio station. We were the number one station in the city among 14 AM and FM outlets. A few years prior to MLK Jr. Day becoming a national American holiday, I instructed all of the deejays to play Stevie Wonder's "Happy Birthday" once per shift (on January 15 only) so the song would play every four hours. Wonder's song specifically mentions Martin Luther King. The tune is a song of praise and pride. One of the station owners heard the song on-air, called the station general manager, and told him to instruct me to ban the song from airplay. Because of antics like this, I too eventually quit my position. They didn't have to ask me to leave. I thought this Florida story about famous Black Americans was sad. What are people so afraid of? In my high school as a senior, "Asian - African" history was offered as an elective course and I jumped right into it. It was that course that got me interested in learning more about Black history. In Florida, elementary schools, middle schools, and other learning institutions seem to be wary about telling an inclusive, honest American history story. If that's their approach, other trust worthy sources have to be used to broaden information gathering. Here are King, Tubman, Carver, and Powell unscrambled in our Android mobile game Black History Picture Puzzle. The easy mode shown above is simple. The hard mode in the game is a challenge, but provides hours of entertainment.       

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    0 Zodiac Signs Jigsaw Style

    • Games
    • by Kingsley H. Smith
    • 08/10/2022

    Cancer, Aquarius, Taurus, and Scorpio. Four of the twelve zodiac signs. The three visual styles you see below are used when mobile game pieces are displayed in Zodiac Signs Jigsaw Puzzle.        As you complete 50 easy, 50 medium, or 50 harder levels, all three styles come into play. The cosmic and badge based images are used in the higher levels. These jigsaw puzzles are a snap to finish on mobile phones or tablets. You won't have to worry about dragging and dropping hundreds of game pieces to put the final signs together. Try Zodiac Signs Jigsaw Puzzle on your tablet or mobile phone for a change of pace. 

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    0 Black Label Comicon 3 in Philly

    • Expos
    • by Kingsley H. Smith
    • 08/03/2022

    I'm caught up in the middle between two superheroes, ya' think? Black Label Comicon 3 captured some Philly style on Saturday, July 30 featuring good vibrations for all. The event was at the Clarion Hotel close to the Philadelphia Airport. Since it's always a good time to have some fun, in the video above you'll see the antics of presenter Blackman (Chris Fraley - ChrisFraleyPresents.com) and one of his alter egos featuring (Peace Moore). Folks of all ages and backgrounds come out for the commerce by vendors, collectibles by performers, and social connections inside of the primarily Black cosplay community.   Superhero and Science fiction adventure characters have always been popular. The global comicon community is now growing in diversity since its humble underground beginnings. Few people of color participated way back when. Those that did were the original outliers. The Black Label Comicon reflects an ebony push showing us as groundbreakers into the mainstream. This was a fun day that included informal seminars with question and answer time so attendees could get to know the people behind the characters. Superman (Brian), Deadpool (Alex), Hugh, and Superwoman (Lynne). If you've never been to a comicon, check them out. Each year San Diego, California is the largest. The New York City Comicon is also huge. Here are three pictures with me from the October, 2018 NYC Comicon at the Javits Center in Manhattan.   Not a comicon, but another great event is the Game Devs of Color Expo. Here's my report about the Game Devs of Color Expo 2019 at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Harlem NYC. Superheroes live. Check out our mobile app Superhero Flyer Game.  

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    0 Black History People Mobile Game

    • Games
    • by Kingsley H. Smith
    • 07/27/2022

    Black History People Game is the app that literally drops all the great names for fast fun. The folks just float down your screen. Touch the letters on your keyboard to score points. No shifting to upper or lower case required. Forget about backspace. We made this too easy! Black History People Game is a fast keyboard busting trivia experience. Play the game one more time! Watch this video then get it on your device.

  • 0 5 Humor Quotes For Summertime And Anytime

    • Quotes
    • by Kingsley H. Smith
    • 07/13/2022

      Can laughing keep you cool during the long hot summer? Humor may work up a sweat too, but at least you'll feel good while bellowing out with joy. Playwright, novelist, poet, and composer Langston Hughes, (1902-1967), wrote some of the very best prose of any writer in the first half of the twentieth century. Above you've read two of his quotes about humor.     Maya Angelou, the gifted storyteller (1928 - 2014) writes with a serious tone drawing from her experiences from the Deep South to the heart of Africa. As you see, she says she is serious, but she values a hearty laugh!      With all of his problems, let's hope Bill Cosby took his own advice about humor.   One of my favorite hot weather songs of all time is the ancient (by today's standards) "Summertime" composed in 1934 by George Gershwin for the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess. The lyrics are by DuBose Heyward. My favorite version of the song is the duet by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. Ella's quote above is a hoot! How can you dive into thousands of personal thoughts in the categories of humor, friendship, leadership, motivation, reflection, instruction, inspiration, family, leadership, faith and love? Our mobile app Black History Quotes Express is the answer letting you use and share with everyone. Download and enjoy!

  • 0 The Creepy Digital Gatekeepers

    "You haven't used 22 apps in the last 30 days." Have you received one of these creepy cryptic notifications from Google on your Android device? Recently via Amazon Prime Video I watched The Creepy Line: Google and Facebook censorship manipulation undermining Democracy. I don't know about you, but I've had it with the constant surveillance the so called social companies conduct on us. The Creepy line, released in 2018, is a top notch documentary showing how society is manipulated by Google and Facebook. What's even more frightening in the movie is how these companies do it and get away with it. Thankfully, my iOS Apple devices are somewhat more well mannered. I certainly didn't ask Google to send me notifications about how often I'm using specific mobile apps on my phone or tablet. Frankly, it's none of their business. It's my storage space. If I could turn off all of these ridiculous notifications, I would.

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    0 Doomed: Death of the First Person Shooter Video Game

    A rugged individual. This character type could reap a reputation of renegade violence out of chaotic gun driven 'justice' in the old west. This model of behavior partially defines the global sterotype of "the reckless American." Our Society's video games are no exception. From Duke Nukem to Doom and beyond, first person shooter sequences capture a vicarious thrill for players who gaze down the barrel of a gun or riffle to score game points.   In the early first person shooter games all you see is the barrel of the weapon larger than life at the bottom of the video screen actively seeking out kills with the aid of the player. A bombastic example on the silver screen is the 2006 unrated extended edition of Doom featuring Karl Urban and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. The final act in the movie captures the carnage that the video game originally cooked up. See a variant of the video game rendered below. I'm not one for censorship, especially among adults. I don't criticize other game developers who want to play with or create first person shooter fire. This game genre never captured my attention. As such, you won't find one in our app catalog. Censorship of digital games is a no go. Ratings to aid parents are fine. Video games are entertainment even if some of them overflow with macabre massacre madness. Control of weapons, specifically weapons of mass destruction in a free society is a separate issue. With 330 million Americans and 393 million weapons (according to a 2018 report by the Small Arms Survey), it is clear the arms race is winning stateside. As of this writing Black women are the fastest-growing group of gun owners in the USA according to reports by NYMag's The Cut, NPR, The Philadelphia Tribune, Essence, and other reputable sources. Women quoted by Essence say a weapon makes them feel "more secure." Among majority demographic populations the traditional non-sports game hunting person owns a gun for "self-defense." It will be interesting to see if the death of the first person shooter video game happens and gets documented in a future digital obituary. Perhaps gun violence in our streets will play a role moving people away from 'first person shooter video games' as go-to entertainment.

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    0 RnB and Hip Hop Quiz Shines

    • Games
    • by Kingsley H. Smith
    • 06/01/2022

    In Music Trivia Quizzes Sing Song Success you'll see a video that features our RnB and Hip Hop Quiz on an iPhone - iPad. Below are just a handful of questions from this music trivia throwback challenge app as they appear in the Android version of the mobile game. I wrote and researched all of the questions in RnB and Hip Hop Quiz trivia.   Did you know that in 1991, Janet Jackson's "Love Will Never Do" (Without You)" was a #1 pop hit. Janet was the first artist to have seven top five pop hits from the same album.    Ray Charles Robinson (1930 - 2004) was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. He received his Lifetime Achievement Award at the thirtieth annual Grammy Awards in 1988.   Ronnie Wilson (vocal, horns, keyboards), Robert Wilson (vocals, bass) and Charlie Wilson (vocals, drums) are the funk trio The Gap Band from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Charlie Wilson continues in 2022 as a solo artist. The group chose their name after three streets in Tulsa: Greenwood, Archer, and Pine. Ronnie Wilson, the founder of the Gap Band died at 73 in November, 2021. Brother Robert Wilson passed at age 53 in 2010. Trivia tease. What's the other famous three brother Latin jazz-rock classic soul group whose founding members have the same surname as the Gap Band? It's Mandrill with: Lou, Richard, and Carlos Wilson. No relation to The Gap Band Wilsons!    I've seen Chaka Khan live at least 6 times and was at the 30th Anniversary Rufus and Chaka Khan Concert with Earth, Wind & Fire, September 1, 2001 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.   TLC's first hit "Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg" was in 1992. Five artists were sampled in their track: James Brown, Kool & The Gang, Average White Band, Silver Convention, and Bob James. I think I'll take a few points off for originality.   Do you know the answer to this one? I won't give it away.   Do you know the answer to this one?   An easy one! Discover RnB and Hip Hop Quiz trivia featuring 12 levels with R&B questions, and 12 levels with hip hop questions. Your choice. Twenty-four levels are in the mix. Enjoy both the Android or the iOS version on your mobile device. 

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    0 Ingenious Black Inventors

    When you've worked at a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania shoe factory for years creating footwear by hand you've probably thought of ways to speed up this labor intensive process. Within the work day you can only get so far manually attaching the shoe sole to the upper fabric or leather. In 1883, Jan Matzeliger revolutionized the shoe manufacturing process. He patented his lasting machine creation to automate the process of attaching the shoe sole to the upper material. Early in his career Purdue University graduate Henry T. Sampson worked as a Research Chemical Engineer at the US Naval Weapons Center in China Lake, California. He specialized in high-energy solid propellants and case-bonding materials for solid-rocket motors. Sampson earned degrees in Chemical Engineering from UCLA and Nuclear Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He was a pioneer in academia becoming the first African American to earn a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering in the United States. On July 6, 1971, Sampson was awarded a patent with George H. Miley for the invention of the gamma-electric cell, a direct-conversion energy device that converts the energy generated from the radiation of high-energy gamma rays into electricity. Finally among these big three, there's Granville Woods. Did you learn about him or any other African American inventors in school? Mr. Woods was an effective, ingenious inventor. His 45 patents between 1884 - 1907 include the steam boiler furnace. Woods wowed with creative solutions for battery technology, railway brake systems, telephone and telegraph technology, and much more. Discover 50 other trailblazers you'll want to know in the mobile app Black History Inventors.

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    0 Superhero Flyer Challenge - Why Is This Game So Hard?

    • Games
    • by Kingsley H. Smith
    • 05/04/2022

    So easy to play it's boring, or so hard to learn it's easy to lose? That's any mobile game challenge. As you know, good games take a few moments to flush out and more devoted time to master winning techniques. Superhero Flyer is a side scrolling action game that looks simple to play but there is significant strategy you must use to get to the top levels. This is our most difficult game. Watch the 59 second video for a quick overview. Here are some ways you can get the most fun out of Superhero Flyer for iPhone and Android. You start the action with Scout and play against the countdown clock. Touch the screen to keep flying. Scout has 5 lives and leads the way. You can't score with Scout. Scout powers up to Blue. When Scout touches the sun, moon, windsock or drones Blue will appear to continue the game. Blue is active for a random amount of time. A short amount of time. Blue will take out the small rockets (enemies) and score points, but will be eliminated by large rockets. In level 1 when Blue touches a balloon, Trax appears (and Blue disappears). Trax (below) can take out all of the rocket enemies but your score won't climb as fast. That's why in the video I avoided making a move to bring Trax into the gameplay. Trax can be used in the game for a random amount of time that is short. Scout reappears when Trax disappears! (level 1 and possibly level 2). In a few of the levels, meet the eagles. They want to and will attack the drones. Don't worry, you or the bomb enemies can't hurt the eagles. Get Scout to touch the drones before the eagles swoop on them if you can, or you lose valuable time bringing Blue back into the game. If you can get to level 5 then you'll control Bambi (left) and Thump (below) as they take the lead. Bambi and Thump can knock out balloons, drones, and rockets. Super tip. In levels 6 - 8 go for the balloons if you can. They have the highest value to score points. Once you reach level 6, strap in. Score by taking out the drones, balloons, and rockets. Good luck getting all the way to level 8! I've revealed just enough to give you an edge. Can you get to 70,000 or more points? Grab Superhero Flyer and play the game to score.   

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    0 Black History Quiz Trivia App

    History happens all around us: past, present, and future. You can control some of the narrative in your life's journey, but not all of if. People who write the stories in the historic records pick and choose those people or events they deem the most important. Some gate keepers think that "most important" doesn't necessarily mean the most valuable. Traditional history books fall short in creating diverse reference material that reflect the multicultural fabric of our society. Here's where telling your own story really matters. At the time it was created using a fresh innovative digital technology, our legacy project Empower Encyclopedia CD-ROM attempted to build a better bridge to Black History story telling. 2023 will be the 25th anniversary of this massive undertaking.   In 2013 we morphed some of the Empower Encyclopedia content into Black History Quiz trivia for Android. Black History Quiz trivia for iPhone followed in 2018. Lots of valuable Black history quiz questions and answers are presented in these convenient fact based mobile apps. Take a break and watch me share my screen and play these Black history trivia games on both my Android and iPhone in the video below.

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