Is somebody else getting paid to use your Internet connection?

Pop-ups, one example of Internet ads

 

Are you paying too much for Internet, or at least more than you'd like? How would you like to know that there are companies out there making money on your Internet connection, and have no intention of paying you a dime of it?

Advertising itself is nothing new. It's probably older than the country you live in. But as you drive down the road and see a billboard, it isn't in your way, and it isn't sipping additional fuel out of your tank. It's just there. On TV and radio, you can't really get around ads, and they take up more and more time each year. In the 1960s, Star Trek episodes were over 50 minutes long, yet only occupied a one-hour time slot. This left less than 10 minutes for ads. Just five years ago, 'one-hour' shows were clocking in at around 42 minutes. Now they're down to 39. That's over a third of the hour spent on advertising. (Has your cable or satellite bill gone down to reflect this? I bet it hasn't.)

The video Facebook doesn't want you to see

A few minutes ago, I found a really cool video on Google+, so I went to share it with Facebook. I got an error I'd never seen before. Apparently Facebook doesn't think you should see this video.

This video contains no nudity or foul language. Whether it contains violence or not... well, violence is kind of implied at the end. It's a PSA from New Zealand about speeding. I wonder if Facebook will block my blog for posting it, or take action against my account. I'd be interested to know why they don't want their members seeing this video, though. Other videos can certainly be posted.

On Liberty vs Authority and the Pledge of Allegiance (today vs before the '50s)

Silly Authoritarian post on Facebook
posted on a so-called Libertarian page

Quick political science lesson: Forcing students to follow a state (as in government, not one US state) religion is authoritarian, not libertarian.

Just like you have Conservatives and Progressives (aka Liberals) and everybody in between, you also have Authoritarians and Libertarians.

Conservatives are opposed to progress; Progressives are for it. Generally this means minority rights, as well as welfare programs. In theory but not always in practice, it also extends to gun rights (which Conservatives fight for, mostly).

Authoritarians believe in the Authority of the State. Libertarians believe in the Liberty (freedom) of the Individual.

DR's Top Android Apps of 2013

'KitKat,' code name of Android 4.4

Seems like everybody has one of these. A round-up of the best smartphone apps they used in the last year. Apps that just went above and beyond to make your smartphone feel really special. I always read them on other blogs, and I always feel that the writer uses their phone completely differently from how I use mine, and I just don't get anything. Maybe you will feel the same about this list; hopefully not. Also, all of these apps work in KitKat, the latest version of Android.

First year of the Apocalypse behind us

Life after the apocalypse
(or a scene from Fallout 3)

Here in North Carolina, we've all been wondering why it's so hot in December. Yesterday, it was unseasonably warm. Today, I woke up sweating, and had to turn my window AC unit on, a first for the last 60 days, if not 90. A few weeks ago it got just under 20ºF. Today, it was hot. Nobody really knows why. Jokes abound on the social networks about how the South refuses to participate in winter. Others cite political issues as sin, e.g. some deity is punishing us.

Then I realized, the world ended a year ago today... or some madmen would have us believe. Sure, there was that looney preacher a couple years ago who told everyone the world would end in April or May... then he was sure it was October or November. Because of leap year, you know. The 12th or the 21st of December 2012, depending on who you asked, was supposed to be the apocalypse. And people had been saying it for years. When my mother was a kid in the 1920s (just kidding—early '60s) they were talking about 2012 as the end of days. I recall thinking about it when I was 15. I did the math and said, "Who cares? I'll be 34 when it happens. 19 years to enjoy life." The 12th came and went, and  then the 21st.

Free Speech vs. Hate Speech vs. Corporate Image

Duck Dynasty's
Phil Robertson

You guys know what the difference is between Dan Cathy and Phil Robertson? They both hate gays. Both have publicly spoken out against human rights. The difference is, the former is head of his company, and the other is an employee. Mr Cathy was able to speak with near impunity, because nobody could fire him. Mr Robertson, on the other hand, just lost his job for hate speech.

It's easy to get hate speech confused with free speech. Free speech, or the First Amendment here in the U.S., means that the government will not prosecute you for saying what you believe. This means that all of my Facebook friends who hate Obama and say bad things about him, cannot be prosecuted by the government for saying them. Hate speech is speaking out against (to offend) any Constitutionally-protected people. And saying that homosexuality is a 'sin,' while Biblically correct, is morally wrong. Also, it's hate speech. Implying that using Muppets finger puppet toys is gay because the Jim Henson company supports human rights is also hate speech.

Robertson went on record saying that homosexuality is a sin, which leads to bestiality and marital infidelity. And then the network A&E went on record suspending him indefinitely. Duck Dynasty will go on, supposedly, though I'm not sure how they will continue a show about a family of back woods duck hunters with the omnipresent patriarch nowhere to be seen. It seems to me that he will always be there in spirit, unless they... I don't know... maybe cast one of the guys from ZZ Top in his place?

FYI, Christians: The other five billion of us are not offended by Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas... wherever you are. ;)

A disturbing trend on Facebook and other social networks lately has seen Christians feigning (or genuinely feeling) offense at non-Christians allegedly being offended by the phrase, "Merry Christmas" (or, originally, by the abbreviation of Christmas as Xmas). As a secular humanist, I'd like to set the record straight.

I was raised secular. That doesn't mean atheist, it means religion wasn't forced down my throat. I was taken to a couple churches when I was young, to see what I thought. I didn't think much of either, so I didn't go back. Later, I attended a Catholic service, and a Jewish one. But the context wasn't, "follow these teachings or your soul will burn for eternity in Hell"; rather, it was, "this is what some people choose to believe." I don't mind Christians, or any other religious people. I believe strongly in freedom of (or from) religion. I own a Bible (family heirloom) and I have read it (I was grounded for a month when I was 12 and it was the only book I was allowed). I've seen Christians at their worst, but I also know the good charitable works they do. Neither define the group. What defines Christians is the belief that Jesus Christ died for their sins. That's the one thing the 2.2 billion of them have in common. They are a very diverse bunch.

Despite my secular upbringing, we did celebrate Christmas. We recognized the birth of Jesus Christ as well as the stuff about Santa, Frosty, Rudolph, and all the others. Baby Jesus was always a part of it. It was a Christmas story like any other. So I am a little offended when Christians say that non-Christians want to remove Christ from Christmas, as He was always a part of mine. But not much. It's simple ignorance, and that is so common these days. One cannot and should not try to take offense to all of it.