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(); ?> Tag Archive for ‘Law’ at spencerb.net

Tag Archive for 'Law'

Serving or Telling?

Published on October 17, 2008 in Justice, Law, Life, Politics and Uncategorized. 1 Comment

tschwab asks an intersting question: Is your government serving you, or is it telling you what to do and how to do it?

First, I think it is important to realize that this question is asking for positive (as opposed to normative) analysis. In other words, what does the government do, now what should it do. For the sake of full disclosure, I will admit that I believe the government should serve the people. The relationship between the people and the U.S. government is one where the people legitimize the government’s power. This is important to note because it is no a relationship where the government legitimizes the people’s power, something inherent in the idea of ‘telling you what to do and how to do it’.

That said, what do I think the government is doing right now? I think there are two ways to look at this problem. One, on a very superficial level. Two, on a foundational level.

Let’s go backwards. Two. The government is clearly telling us what to do and how to do it. By contributing to a structure for society, the government formulates standards for how we act. This is embodied in the spirit of the law. Have you ever waited at a red light when no traffic is coming? A simple example, yes, but also a telling one. The law literally tells us how to act. We empower it to do so. And in doing so, as a society we employ a balancing test, by sacrificing some autonomy, the government can serve us in a better way than we could acting independently.

One. The more superficial level. I have already hinted at this a little bit. The purpose of laws sanctioned by the people is to sacrifice some of their own autonomy for a greater benefit. Therefore, the government is actively serving us on its function in so much as we agree to the contract we have created with the government by becoming citizens.

There is more room for interpretation on this subject, but I’m ignoring lecture by writing this, so I’ll leave it to everyone else.

Many Stark Contrasts as Simpson Is Convicted – NYTimes.com

Published on October 4, 2008 in Justice, Law and News. 0 Comments

Good Copy, Bad Copy

Published on September 5, 2008 in Law, Movies, Music and Technology. 1 Comment

I recommend everyone watch this video. It is an extremely fascinating documentary about copyright law. If you have heard of The Pirate Bay, DJ Danger Mouse’s The Grey Album or Girl Talk, you will find this video especially fascinating. It considers some of the issues of online pirating and using samples in music.

Law in Vitrual Worlds Part II

Published on March 16, 2008 in Games, Law, Politics and Technology. 0 Comments

Somehow, yet again, I have fallen out of the blogosphere. It is interesting how life has a way of doing that to everyone I know who has a blog that does not make their living (or some of it) from blogging.

Anyway, the last post considered how law will intervene in virtual worlds, specifically video game based worlds. Initially, to me it seemed that the game should just be a game and work itself out. If anything, as financial incentives enter the picture that will be a check on people’s actions.

I started thinking about how many games require a monthly fee be paid to participate. This financial investment month after month is justified by the constantly changing and updating nature of the game. Maintaing the virtual world and the server it runs on is paramount to having a gaming experience at all. More over, it seems that part of this fee is to set up a healthy gaming experience. That is why there are corporate employees playing the position (adopted from paper and pencil RPGs) ‘Game Master’. If people are experiencing detrimental effects as a result of playing the game, should the Game Master be responsible to intervene? I think the month to month investment necessitates an affirmative answer. I am fairly certain that it is not part of the Terms of Agreement, but I think the results speak to this. Abusive character names, guilds/clans, and offensive language all result in a ban on one’s account. This tells me that it is an issue taken seriously as a result of companies wanting to provide a high quality and healthy experience.

As video games have become more popular it seems like the government has always wanted to intervene at some point. Now the ESRB rating system is fairly widespread and some retailers are preventing the sales of certain games to minors. As content becomes increasingly interactive the future role of government may be a guiding force the same way it has been for ratings and retailers. Demanding game providers take proactive actions to foster a healthy gaming experience may be the future. It seems like they are already doing that now, but I am certain some politicians will want to add their stamp of approval and pass a bill with their name on it.

Law and Virtual Words Part I

Published on February 26, 2008 in Games, Law and Technology. 0 Comments

In my recent obsession with reading and compiling news feeds. I happened upon an interesting article about what role law, specifically criminal law, might have in online games. It is an interesting question. Anyone who has played any type of online game knows that they can be addicting and foster a sense of attachment to in game accomplishments. The latter is also true of games that are not played online. I think Everquest typifies the beginning of the Massively Multiplayer Online game. From my personal experience with people that I know, Blizzard’s Diablo II is a perfect example of how online worlds transcend their online limitations when they enter markets that exchange for actual money. The basis of this in the aforementioned game was selling items on EBay. Thus, players actions in the game would translate into material gain outside the game. I imagine almost every news story that frequented the press several years ago about violent video games causing violence or depression included a story about Everquest. The addicting nature of that game apparently caused people to become emotionally disturbed and even (if my memory serves me correctly) kill themselves. If anyone reads this and can do a quick websearch on it, please post a comment.

The question is then whether or not the effects that take place outside the dominion of the virtual world are under the authority of the government to regulate?

The way I would like to answer this question is in the negative.

I would like to explore the above question a bit more…look out for Part II soon.

This Summer

Published on February 24, 2008 in Chicago, Debate, Law, Life, Northwestern, School and Work. 0 Comments

Well, one minute I am complaining about this quarter going by too fast and the next I am thinking about this summer. That has been the craziness of this year for me. I was never exactly sure what my post-graduating plans would be, but now its time to decide more thoroughly.

This decision most immediately manifests itself it in choosing classes for next quarter. Since my propensity to attend Law School is ever increasing, I have decided to take classes that focus on writing. I do not consider myself a poor writer, but I think investing some time would be a great resource. On that note, I am taking an English course that focuses on writing about ethical issues. I thought this would be interesting and most applicable to the type of writing I do. I am also going to take a History of Philosophy course. Fall Quarter I took the first course in this series and really enjoyed. It is fascinating how influential thinkers’ ideas pop up throughout history. Of course, I am taking Chinese, which I have grown to dislike. Thankfully, this will be the last Chinese course I have to take. Chinese is not a friend of my GPA, I just keep thinking: why didn’t I take Spanish? The last course I will have will be Economics of the Environment and Natural Resources. I am pretty excited for this class because I like the teacher and the subject-matter. It will cover air pollution, fishing, and global warming. Considering the craziness of the debate topic junior year of high school, I should have some knowledge to bring to the table.

To complicate matters further, Monica and I want to move soon. Hopefully, we can pull that off without a hitch.

Two Fridays ago, I participated in a program where we went to several law firms, a non-profit, and the district court. I firmly believe that this aided my desire to attend law school. It drives me nuts though thinking about preparing for a decent LSAT. I am becoming more confident that I can do it though. I have been mulling over taking a test prep class just to be certain I do well. I feel like I can hit my peak success at standardized tests.

In the meantime, I have to continue the ridiculous amount of reading that I have for the History of Economic Thought. Also, I have a paper that I want to write on police discretion, so hopefully that will be done soon. There are also about a million things I need to do for CPP!

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