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Quikthinking Software Blog
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    0 Playing Blackjack 21 AA Card Game Video

    • Games
    • by Kingsley H. Smith
    • 10/19/2022

    It's a true story I tell in the video. I thought every adult knew how to play blackjack. I discovered the exception to the rule in my own extended family. My mother taught me how to play. We played often when I was young. When we played, no money was involved (even as I got older). What kind of mom would try to fleece her own kid? Not mine! I thoroughly enjoyed the process of developing Blackjack 21 AA. Building the mobile game was not in vain. Everyone doesn't know how to play so another Blackjack mobile experience is not overkill. Our version for iPhone, iPad and Android keeps things simple. Blackjack 21 AA features simulated gambling. No real money is wagered. We don't include extended elements found in more sophisticated versions that use doubling down or insurance. We just capture the fun element of the game! Read this update for the Blackjack 21 AA backstory. Here I go. Watch the 2 minute video. Next time I'll show you four minutes of more card action in another new game we've recently released.

  • 0 Personal Computer System Information

    • How To
    • by Kingsley H. Smith
    • 10/12/2022

    Your laptop or computer is having problems. To troubleshoot, you need to find out your system information. How do you do it? On Windows 7, 10, or 11 as of this writing grabbing the info is a breeze. Forget about trying to use or find the old Windows "Control Panel" resource. On a Mac, no problem! Watch the video as I bounce through several of our devices. This how-to is just under 2 minutes with audio. Remember for Windows there are multiple ways to complete the same task. 

  • 0 Mobile Keyboard Game Play

    How good are you at tapping on your mobile keyboard? Sometimes it's frustrating because the keys are tiny. Our Black History People Game app is a mobile keyboard based challenge for both iOS and Android. For any keyboard size, the game is easy. History is an element of the game that introduces lots of famous people from the past. Current personalities are in there too. Watch this 53 second video as I play the game and explain more. Our Black History People Game webpage has the connection to grab this gem from all of the major app stores. 

  • 0 How We Make Those Mobile App Changes - Video

    • How To
    • by Kingsley H. Smith
    • 09/28/2022

    Keeping up with all of the changes across Android and iOS is a challenge. What actually has to happen? Watch this 3 minute 39 second video as I update the operating system required to make Black History Audio book compatible with, as of this date Android 12 (and some of the previous versions going back several years).

  • 0 Black History Picture Puzzle App Grows

    Watch this 46 second video as I update a part of the Black History Picture Puzzle mobile App. You'll discover a quick Photoshop Elements trick I use to make text titles look good. Overall, we've added new pictures, improved the photo captions, dropped in a new icon, and upgraded the version of Android.  

  • 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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