Week 4 EOC: Death Race Jeopardy

The Death Race Jeopardy was a very unique way of learning definition. It actually made learn the definition in order to create a suitable question and answer. Also listening and reading my classmates answer, which in some cases close to what I had written for my own project, only reinforced the definition in mind. For instance; abandonment of patent application which came up quite a few times during the game means that if an applicant fails to response in a timely manner to an action or request initiated by the United States Patent and Trademark Office then it is considered abandon. Other definition that came up frequently was misuse of patent which refers to the use of a patent in a manner that violates federal patent or antitrust laws may result in the patent being declared invalid or unenforceable by the court. I also learned that there are two basic types of patents claims: independent and dependent. Independent claims are statements that stand by themselves. Dependent claims are statements that rely on another claim for part of their description. This project also educated me on court case that I otherwise would not have learned. Such as Graham v. John Deere which created the guidelines for determining when an invention is nonobvious (which I think is only word in the context of discussing patent and trademarks…lol). Speaking of nonobvious it is define as the ability of the invention to produce unexpected or surprising new results. Something I learned in the process of doing this project that now stuck in my head. All in all “Death Race Jeopardy” was a great way to learn and retain definition. Now I am not saying I remember everything I wrote or everything I heard but I certainly recall more doing this exercise that I would have otherwise.

Week 3 EOC: Jeopardy- Challenges and Opportunities

   Jeopardy is defined as hazard or risk of exposure to loss, harm, death or injury. I only mention that to say the word itself evokes challenges by the images that may come to mind. However, as it relates to this week’s assignment lucky there is no risk of death or injury if something is not done correctly (lol). The assignment of recreating the popular tv show in order to study definition is a great way of making learning interesting. The issue with that is learning the definition. Not only do you have to know the definition but you have to be able to paraphrase it so it becomes a Jeopardy-like question. That alone in and of itself is a daunting task. But I also have to consider if my fellow classmates will be able to answer the questions. This makes the assignment harder because I have to “double think”. By double think I mean I have to think what I am going to write for the “answer” in way that others will be able to decipher the “question” just like the game show. It is not an impossible task by any means it just requires a little more brain power to accomplish the task. Obviously, it is doable task because the writers of the tv show do it every day with great success I might add. So that is mindset I am taking as I come up with “answers” for the “questions”.

The opportunities involved in an assignment such as this is walking away having actually learning something from it and hopefully others will have learned something from me. Of course, I am realistic and I know that nobody is going to remember everything everyone else did for the assignment. However, if at some obscure time and place either I or someone in the class remembers information I provided then mission accomplished.

Week 2 EOC: What Do You Think About Lawyers?

When a person or groups of people are asked what word or words do they associate with lawyers? Generally you will get a negative response. Words such as snake-oil salesman, liars, or the devil may come to mind. Be that as it may, my personal opinion of them is that they are no worst than the rest of humanity. Most of them, I feel, are all about the money instead of helping the individual or individual that come to them for assistance. However, love them or hate them you cannot fault them for making a living. Of course they are going to be self-serving but aren't we all when we are providing a service for someone else. I think “we” (and by we I mean society as a whole) portray lawyers so negatively has nothing to do with them as a person (although some warrant our loathing) as it does with the law itself. The law is what is flawed and deserves our hate. It allows for murderers, thieves, drug dealers and all other criminal deviants to go free at the expense of the innocent.  The law has many loop wholes imbedded in it that allows (in some cases) the innocent to get prosecuted and the guilty to go free. It allows for the meek to continually to suffer at the hands of the wicked (especially where big business is concerned).  Lawyers are merely the instrument. You cannot hate the drum because the drummer is bad. As with anything in life we as humans need something or someone to blame when things get screwed up. Lawyers have a real tough job interpreting the law; a job the rest of would find extremely boring and monotonous.   So I pose these questions to you (the reader). Do lawyers take on cases they know they can win or at least get recognized for? Do lawyers manipulate the law in order to win a case? Are they in it for the money? The answer to all these questions is “Hell Yeah”. But I submit who among us isn’t doing the same thing in our daily lives.

Week 1 EOC: My Voice

            In case you are wondering about the name it is the first two letters of each of my son's names. It will also serve as the name of my company should everything go according to plan. I have always had interest in creating and building things. Looking back on my childhood there are things now that stand out as a starting point for my interest in interior design (although back then interior design was not a label I would have assign to what I was doing). My brothers and I would go outside in our backyard and construct these primitive forts out of the wood my Dad used for the fireplace. We also used the 2x4s boards my Dad had on the side of his tool shed. We would get our toy guns and shoot at each other from behind the safety of our forts. Needless to say my Father did not think we were all that creative. I enjoyed building forts even though they were torn down at the end of the day and we would have to start over from scratch the next time we played forts..lol.  My Dad was one of those do-it-yourself kind of guys. He did not like paying for thing that he felt he could do for himself. So during my childhood my brothers and I would always have a front row seat to my Dads projects. He could build tool sheds and lay concrete for things like porches, sidewalk, and driveways. He did this for people in his spare time as a side gig for extra money. Often times my brothers and I would involuntarily tag along (we hated going with him on these jobs by the way...lol). He taught us however, how to use a hand saw and a skill saw. He taught us how to nail a hammer into a board properly (according to him). I knew the difference between a flathead and phillips screwdriver by the time I was 4 years old. But now that I am older and have kids of my own I have come to certain realizations. First thing is I like fixing and doing things around my house and I feel proud of myself once it is completed a task. Secondly, I love HGTV and have often thought to myself " that's looks great I could do that". Thirdly, my Dad wasn't big on the warm fuzzies but taking us along with him was his way of spending time with us and saying I love you. Interior design isn't something that I decided to do one day it is something that I developed a love for over my lifetime. It has always been a part of who I am I just didn’t know it.