PostBadge tag to show // FeedBurner FeedFlare. // ------------------------- // FeedBurner account and feed required. // Sign up at http://feedburner.com //================================================ class module_feedflare { function init(){ global $gregarious; $gregarious->add_settings ( array ( 'feedburner_url' => '' ) ); $gregarious->add_page ( 'FeedFlare', 'modules/feed-flare/icn_Flare.png', 'page_feedflare();', 'feedFlare' ); } function postbadge_tags(){ return array ( array ( 'tag' => '%FLARE%', 'replacewith' => 'feed_flare("",false)' ), ); } function update_info(){ return 100; } } //------------------------------------------ // TEMPlATE TAGS //------------------------------------------ function feed_flare($settings = '', $echo = true){ global $wp_query; $post = $wp_query->post; $sets = array('postID' => $post->ID, 'before' => '', 'after' => 'Gregarious FeedFlare', 'force' => 0 ); grab_sets($settings, $sets); if ( !$sets['force'] && hideOnID($sets['postID']) ){ return ''; } if( !$path = _get_feedburner_url() ) return ''; if( substr( $path, -1 ) == '/' ){ $path = substr( $path, 0, strlen( $path ) -1 ); } $path = str_replace ( 'feedburner.com/', 'feedburner.com/~s/', $path ); $path .= '?i='.get_permalink($sets['postID']); $result = $sets['before'] . "" . $sets['after']; if($echo) echo $result; else return $result; } function _get_feedburner_url(){ $feedurl = greg_get_option( 'feedburner_url' ); if ( $feedurl ){ return attribute_escape($feedurl); } else { $feedburner_settings = get_option('feedburner_settings'); if( is_array($feedburner_settings) && ($feedurl = $feedburner_settings['feedburner_url']) ) { return attribute_escape($feedurl); } else { return false; } } } //------------------------------------------ // OPTIONS PAGE //------------------------------------------ function page_feedflare(){ $feedurl = _get_feedburner_url(); ?> spencerb.net

Archive

2009 Q4 GDP Statistics

Published on January 29, 2010 in Economics and News. 0 Comments

From the WSJ today:

The U.S. economy surged at the end of 2009, a bigger-than-expected gain driven more by slower inventory liquidation than by consumer spending.

Gross domestic product rose a seasonally adjusted 5.7% annual rate October through December, the Commerce Department said Friday in its first estimate of fourth-quarter GDP.

Don’t read too much into this though:

“Household spending is expanding at a moderate rate but remains constrained by a weak labor market, modest income growth, lower housing wealth, and tight credit,” the Federal Open Market Committee of policymakers said this week.

Not to say that this is not good news. Obviously, strong growth stats are great when compared to a year of the economy contracting. We should all be wary of over-celebrating two digits meant to estimate the aggregate activity of the world’s largest economy. Undoubtedly, this will appear in papers across the country and around the world this week. The WSJ does a good job of laying out what factors composed the growth and how those changed from last year or last quarter.

Here’s to hoping 2010 turns things around!

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The iPad

Published on January 29, 2010 in Technology. 4 Comments

Apple announced this week a new device, the iPad. I have been reading reviews over at Engadget and around the web. This comment crystalizes what I think is the most meaningful insight regarding the iPad:

it’s hard not to see it as a pretty bold statement of what Apple thinks general-purpose computing should look like in the future

I’m starting with a positive comment about what I will mostly have critical things to say.

Click to continue reading “The iPad”

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The Future of Europe

Published on January 27, 2010 in News and Politics. 3 Comments

Although, I make a distinction between Europe, as in the continent, and the United Kingdom, which I think is fair culturally and as far as identity, the UK is part of the EU. Perhaps if the matter went to a vote in the UK, they would no longer participate. As of now, the UK has not adopted the Euro as a currency or participated in the Schengen Agreement for immigration. When one of the world’s more politically powerful and economically stable countries refuses to fully participate in the EU, you have to wonder where the problem lies.

Click to continue reading “The Future of Europe”

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Upcoming Travels

Published on January 27, 2010 in Travel. 3 Comments

The last time I received a phone call about an impromptu trip planned to Asia was in 2007. My friend Bill called and said (more or less) ‘let’s go to Japan’. At the time I had no particular plans or ambitions to go, but I liked the idea and the adventure. We had done a bit of travelling together as a part of the debate team in high school, but nothing international. To make matters worse (or possibly better

Click to continue reading “Upcoming Travels”

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Google Voice

Published on January 26, 2010 in Technology. 4 Comments

I have been using Google Voice since this summer and have been extremely happy with it so far. Several people have commented to me that they’ve used Google Voice, but don’t get why or how it is useful.

Living abroad, it has been an indispensable tool for me to keep in touch with everyone at home. So, let me lay it out.

Click to continue reading “Google Voice”

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End of a Season

Published on January 25, 2010 in Minnesota and Sports. 0 Comments

Last night I fell asleep right before half time, the score tied at 14-14. At this point, 1 am GMT, I was tempted to stay awake and stick it out with the team, but I felt confident that the Vikings would pull it off.

Every season ends at some point though. Of course, the ultimate way to end it in the NFL is with a Super Bowl victory, something I am confident that the Saints will now pull off. This year is one for the NFC.

Vikings – it was a good run, Favre led us through some tough games and gave us consistency, but in the end the Saints took it. Let’s come back strong next season – I know Minnesota loved it.

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Helsinki Recap

Published on January 24, 2010 in Travel. 2 Comments

At the moment, I don’t feel particularly inspired about any current political events and not too much exciting has happened this term yet. I was able to do a lot of travelling over winter break as I alluded to in an earlier post. My final destination over winter break, which was from January 9th to 10th was Helsinki, Finland.

I took a ferry from Tallinn, Estonia to Helsinki, following the recommendation of Adam. He also gave me a warning that it would be a booze cruise full of Finns on their way back home.

Click to continue reading “Helsinki Recap”

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Every once and a while…

Published on January 21, 2010 in Music. 0 Comments

…you find something incredibly hilarious on Youtube:

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Flying without Periph’

Published on January 21, 2010 in Life. 0 Comments

Today I have 9 am class, which is relatively earlier for my schedule. I try and set an alarm as close to that as I can and still make it to class on time. So, this morning I launched out the door wearing my glasses, which has become an irregular event for me. For those of you that wear glasses, you understand the loss of peripheral vision that results from looking through the two pieces of glass resting on the bridge of your nose and your ears. While you can see outside the rims of your glasses, it is nearly impossible to simultaneously focus through both lenses at once. I believe this holds whether you are near-sighted or far-sighted.

After class, on my way to the library I was scrolling through my iPod looking for a song to play when I completely missed a step in front of me. Usually, I don’t I try and avoid using this blog to try and write on deep life issues. That just is not my forte. I can’t help but think about how the lenses that we use to navigate through our lives help us see and prevent us from seeing other things at the same time. Without my glasses, I would have an interesting time getting around London. But with them, my gaze focused on one object, I missed out on something else going on.

And hitting that step hurt.

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LSE

Published on January 20, 2010 in Life and London. 3 Comments

“London School of Economics.

They accepted me. Now I have some thinking to do.”

I wrote this post in February of 2009, almost a year ago. It never got published though.

The decision to go to LSE was tough and I’m not entirely sure path this decision is leading me down. I guess we shall see.

I decided to publish this post now because of the novelty and insight from hindsight. The choice I made is now obvious and it is interesting how it dominoes into other challenges and new choices.

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