create a new APSplash, used to give something to look at while Autoplot is starting up.
used for debugging, to log the current time
return the log handler which is used to echo messages as the application starts up.
return the Autoplot version. Conventionally this is $Y$m$d$(x,regex='[a-z]') or v$Y$(x,regex='[ab]')_$(x,regex='\d+') (20220302a or v2022a_3), or (dev).
hide the splash image.
show the splash image on the screen.