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.

Can South Carolina stop the ACA (Obamacare)

found on Facebook

I'm sure by now you have seen the following image on Facebook, followed by the call to like and share and some other crap. For all the anti-Obama stuff that gets posted on Facebook, this one appears to be true. I took to Google and searched "south carolina aca." A video from Huffington Post blowing a lot of smoke, a story from Fox News spinning things for their masters, the GOP; and finally this. I've never heard of that site/blog (but neither am I all-knowing), but it seems legitimate, and is well written besides, which is always nice.

South Carolina, like any state, is actually not in a position to ban any federal law, however. Neither are they the first state to oppose federal law. Washington (state, not DC) and Colorado legalized the personal use of marijuana, though it is still illegal at the federal level. About a third of U.S. states have legalized same-sex marriage (and North Carolina has banned it), although the federal government does not formally recognize same-sex couples. So states do have the power to override federal law within their borders. But ban it outright? Not a chance. Here's what they will do:

Is Santa Claus black or white?

Main cast of the latter half of 'Star Trek: Voyager'

So one of the big news items this week is, a Fox blogger (vlogger) stated that Santa Claus is white, and some people made a fuss about it. The blogger has tried to make light of it, but some people are still upset.

I really hope you're laughing, and not wondering why I have a picture of a Star Trek crew. If you are wondering, allow me to elucidate. Back in the '90s, when I was in high school, there were a lot of 'white shows' and 'black shows.' They weren't called as such, but if you watch a show and everybody is the same race (not just in the family, but all the extras), sorry, but that's just not real life. That's pandering to a specific demographic. I could never get into a lot of shows that seemed fake. Everyone being the same race was one reason I thought they were fake. Another was that they were always rich. Roseanne was a great exception. Working class people with mostly real problems. That wasn't so bad. But mainly what I watched growing up was Star Trek.

How to get kids to clean their room—Fast!

So this one day... I suppose it was about five or six years ago, I'm over at my brother-in-law's place. His girlfriend gets home from work, stops in to see the kids, and flips the hell out because their room is a pig sty, and pretty much reacts like the mom in the cartoon on the right—except this is the Deep South, so it was followed by some threat that is somewhat less than the reverse bear trap from the Saw films (but not much). My nephew was too young to take her seriously or even help, but my niece was probably 4 or 5, so she starts freaking out. No way she can have it done in five minutes. Too much stuff, brother just wants to play, etc. So, being that she's my little buddy and I'm one of the few grownups besides her parents she can really trust, she turns to me for help. This is what I did:

Optimism, Pessimism, or Realism?

I've been Dark Reality for over 21 years now. The name is obviously pessimistic, but the story is far more interesting. Basically, I wanted a pen name, as an aspiring writer (author Dean Koontz has several), and I thought, why use the name of a person? Koontz used a woman's name on more than one occasion. But I wanted more than a name—I wanted something that sounded like a rock band, because I wanted to write cool shit. And though I've since had movies, a band, and songs named after me (or rather, my web handle/screen name), I haven't got a thing to do with any of them. Anyway, since getting married over 7 years ago, I've learned to look on the bright side. In the past week, I've been spouting some downright philosophical shit, so rather than simply put them on Facebook to sink into the ether of the unknown, I figured I'd publish some of it up here.

Now this next bit, for some context, someone on Google+ was asking why, after centuries of evolution and advances in both science and enlightenment, people are still dicks to each other. (The word used was actually 'insensitive.')