Prepare World Trivia Champion!

This is a fun one!  World Trivia Champion Lite is on the iTunes App Store for FREE!

Basically it's a slick trivia game interface, but it has some modern advancements.  There is live chat, a few leaderboards, plus challenging and fun trivia!  Always something new to learn about, even if I don't know the answer.

I upgraded my copy in the Options menu for more themes and in-game access to add my own trivia!  I know some interesting trivia about a few topics...

Best part: now I can challenge my friends and family wherever they are in the world!  Now let's see if I can hit another 10 question hot streak...

Best iPhone and iPad Apps and Games for 2012

Here are my picks for best iPhone and iPad apps and games for 2012!

Games:
Super Blue Fugu (all iOS devices)
Now you can play Blue Fugu for free!  Can you find Red Fugu?  High Scores are ranked on the Game Center app.  I can see how I compare to other players.  It's a fun one!

Apps:
Talkspot Connect (all iOS devices)
If you're new to blogging, or would like a more personal experience, Talkspot is great!  I actually signed up for their service from the app!  The live blogging is #1 on Talkspot Connect, since I can post directly from the app with Rich Text Formatting.  Best blogging app for 2012 with charts of visitors and lots of other features!

Utilities:
Aquarium Screensaver Pro (iPod/iPhone) 
Aquarium Screensaver HD (iPad)
These are great looking screensavers.  I'm looking forward to updates!  It's like a free subscription to new screensavers!  3D fish would be a nice update.

Ultimate Screensaver Collection (iPod/iPhone)
Ultimate Screensaver Collection HD (iPad)
Found out about this one soon after Aquarium, but I got it since it includes free updates.  I would like more artistic screensavers, but my friends are looking forward to something like a virtual picture frame.  I like the Starfield screensaver!  If you can't find where to change the screensaver, tap your Settings icon for Ultimate Screensaver settings.

Best iPhone Games for 2011

Right now I am playing two games: Tiny Wings from Andreas Illiger (available at: this iTunes link) and Amazing Blue Fugu from Titanbase Productions (available at: this iTunes link).

Looking forward to Game Center support!

Best iPhone and iPad Apps and Games for 2011

In 2011, we expect a lot from our mobile apps!  Here are the best apps so far.

The games and apps I list here work on both the iPhone and iPod Touch, as well as the iPad.  Sometimes the app works differently on the iPad, since you have more room on the top and bottom of the screen.

For reading mail: The best is still the built-in Mail app.  I haven't found anything better, and I like that it works with my Yahoo! e-mail account.  Price: FREE  Pre-installed.

For viewing PDFs: MyPDFs Mobile is great!  It's free and I can quickly store PDFs.  It's perfect for reading e-books or if I want to show my 'virtual' business card (which is a PDF with 60 point fonts, printed in landscape).  I have tried most of them, and I really didn't need the power of Goodreader (#2), but your requirements for features will vary.  Price: FREE  MyPDFs Mobile PDF Viewer on iTunes

For checking the weather: I like The Weather Channel's app presentation better than the built-in Yahoo! Weather app.  Also it's handy to click Local Weather Video and get a quick automated voice summary of the weather report.  Then I can do other things, like finish breakfast.  Price: FREE  TWC App on iTunes  Also check out The Weather Channel Max for more features. Price: $3.99

For puzzle, board and card games: Most people seem to like the puzzle game Angry Birds, but I prefer the card game Card Shark Solitaire, with Bejeweled at #2, since it reminds me of an elaborate slot machine.  Puzzles require skill, but I always come back to Klondike Solitaire.  Card Shark can also be upgraded if you like other card games.  Price: FREE  Card Shark Solitaire on iTunes  Also check out Card Shark Collection Deluxe for more variety and features. Price: $1.99

For action, arcade and fighting games: The most addictive game I have found is the Amazing Blue Fugu from Titanbase Productions.  The concept of the game and weaving through the mine fields is great.  The controls are intuitive, and it doesn't ask you to click fake buttons or balance the phone at odd angles.  It's a new release, so I can't wait to see new baddies.  Price: $0.99  Amazing Blue Fugu on iTunes

For doing something besides listening to my MP3s: Maybe you want to unwind, but you're not sure what you want to listen to.  Or you could be at work and there is a lot of hustle and bustle.  The deadline is approaching and you need to concentrate.  Try White Noise Lite.  Helps mask background noise so you can focus, without the 3 o'clock cup of coffee.  Price: FREE  White Noise Lite on iTunes

Best popular website with a fun App interface: It's a tie!  There are two that are better than anything else.  There are good ones, but these are apps I use all the time.  IMDB Movies & TV and Wikipanion.  Both rely on the web for content, but provide it in a quick-search App format.  Not only do I save a click on Safari, then Bookmarks, then finally the website, but the layouts seem polished.  Price: FREE  IMDB Movies & TV on iTunes  Wikipanion on iTunes

Prices could change in the future, but these are great deals for now.  Total cost of the top apps list is 99 cents, and only a couple bucks more if you want all the features.  That's amazing, but it is 2011, so who knows what we'll see as the year unfolds?  I will look back at this list at the end of the year and compare my "Top Apps".

These reviews are my own opinion, based on my experience, but I'd like to hear about the apps you can't live without.  Share yours in the Comments section.  What are your "must have" apps and games for 2011?

Exclusion layer filter in Paint Shop Pro

What makes up the Exclusion layer filter in Paint Shop Pro? It works a bit differently than the Difference layer filter. The effects are shown below.

In the first screenshot, we see 3 color boxes in a layer called Layer1, set to 100% Normal.  Below that, I have selected 3 more boxes to copy to another layer. If I change Normal to Exclusion, there is no change in the image. This means the Exclusion layer looks the same.  It affects how you see the layers behind it, plus you see the remnants of the Exclusion layer.  Since there is nothing behind it, it shows up Normally on both Normal and Exclusion.  Let's see how it works in layers:

As you can see by my thumbnail overlay on Layer2, I added the boxes I selected from Layer1.  Then I switched the layer mode to Exclusion.  The darker colors are not excluding much... but the bottom brighter areas are shifting.  Look at these ranges: red 100% to white.  But there is a bit of cyan above the 50% mark.  This is the effect of Exclusion.

Here I have removed the color box from Layer1 so that it is transparent.  With nothing to exclude, the box returns to normal.

Instead of transparency in Layer1, what if it was a white box, as shown in the thumbnail?  Here is the effect of exclusion over a white box.  Not only are the colors reversed, but black and white are flipped! This is shown by the fact that the small color select circles have not moved.  This means black and white are both affected, which means this article at about.com is incorrect, as shown by this example.  Black is affected, if you exclude white with black (which the about.com author did not test).

With a black background: here is where the confusion lies. Notice that we flipped black and white above, but here against black we see no effect.  The effect here is "exclude black with black", which leaves us with black. It's a different pixel color calculation than the one above.

As a final test, I have taken a copy of the top box, flipped it, then mirror-imaged it.  What we see now is the bottom box flipped and mirrored, with a normal-looking 3 color box in Exclusion mode above that.  Black color is completely excluded out, another example that all colors are affected with one minor detail: once you hit 0,0,0, you can't go below that. Also, once you hit 255,255,255, you can't go above that.

Hopefully these examples have illustrated how the Exclude filter works in Paint Shop Pro. Unlike Difference, which reverses color and brightness, Exclude works differently, and 'removes' the color from the layer below it.  Also, white and black are absolutes with Exclude, whereas with Difference, they are simply 'flipped'.