Week 11: Forced Choice

Lopez-Estrada, Saul E. http://psyphergames.blogspot.com/
This is my own blog, because of this I don’t need to read it to know that I met the requirements. I made a big effort to have all 20 quotes. I think I was one of only a handful of students to actually get 20 quotes in their final project. This is why I weigh this highly in the overall standing. It may be a bit arrogant to place myself at the top, but I feel I did a great job with my final project.

Alberto, Kristine M. http://kristinealberto.blogspot.com/
Kristine’s blog was very well put together. The word count for her final project well exceeded the minimum amount, almost to the point of being too much, but it kept me engaged long enough to read without becoming boring.

Diamond, Vivian http://graphicdiamond.blogspot.com/
Vivian only had 14 quotes in her final project. This was just shy of the required amount, for that reason she moves down this list slightly. Other than that she did a great job. The word count is there and the narrative conveys a strong sense of presence and voice. It was easy to identify the quotes due to the text being red versus the standard white text of the rest of her blog.

Jones, C. J. http://calf-boutique.blogspot.com/
C.J. finds herself closer to the top of my list for the final project. If only for the fact that she attempted to make the quotes fit her written composition. I hold the quotes in high regard on this project due to the difficulty it was in finding something relevant from the book. I had trouble with it, so when I see a student make the effort and get it right it pleases me. She also gets kudos for formatting the quotes well enough for me to find with ease. Her questions were also very clearly written.

Oya, Korsyca Ln http://digitalworldbeyond.blogspot.com/
Korsyca’s blog was very well written. It was a pleasure to read, but difficult to identify the quotes. She formatted her questions in a manner that I appreciate and allow for interpretation and argument of the law. For this Korsyca earns a part in the top half of my list.

Nolan, Stanley S. http://exquisiteinteriors.blogspot.com/
Stanley earned a spot in the middle of the list, toward the top, because she met the requirements, but the formatting was off. She included 15 quotes, maybe more, but I had a hard time identifying them because they were very well blended into the main body of the text. I do appreciate she had all her labels in place and the questions were formatted clearly so I could read them and interpret her thought process on my own.

Mukaya, Adam http://studio504architects.blogspot.com/
Adam earns a spot near the middle of the pile, but closer to the top. He was one of my group members, so I know the types of questions he asked his attorney. This, however, doesn’t serve anyone else that was not a member of the group. The questions are not explicitly formatted for ease of reading. Also, his quotes were oddly formatted. Some of the words were a black font that was easily identifiable against the body of the main text. The problem I had is that he only used that formatting on a few words, instead of the entire quote. I wish I could have had him closer to the top of the pile.

Rodriguez-Delgado, Leslie http://themoment-prodz.blogspot.com/
Leslie’s blog didn’t have quite as many quotes as I would have liked to see, but the quotes that were there and formatted in such a way that they were easy to identify and read. They were also relevant.

Cassaro, Christina R. http://voiceweek1.blogspot.com/
Christina’s blog was interesting to read due to the fact that it’s very obvious it is her blog. Her voice and presence combine to make it as if she were right in front of me speaking aloud. As for the final project, I would have liked to see more. It seems she ran short on time with finding an attorney and ultimately it worked against her. The answers to the questions don’t appear to come from an attorney due to the lack of legalese. She also only had a handful of quotes instead of the required 20.

Calesing, Katherine Gaerlan http://katherinecalesinganimation.blogspot.com/
Katherine was part of my group when we were developing the questions. So her questions were very similar to mine. Unfortunately she didn’t supply the 20 quotes that were asked of the assignment, so I have no choice but to place her somewhere in the middle of the pile. I did, however, get a strong sense of her presence in her writing and for that she earns a bit more kudos from me.

Chester, Lonnie O. http://gnosisindustries.blogspot.com/
I would have wanted to place Lonnie higher on this list. I rather enjoyed reading his blog, because of his writing style. It was very engaging and kept me interested in reading more. Unfortunately he didn’t format his questions well, so I had a hard time identifying them. That fact actually turned me off to his blog. I didn’t read that specific post because it was frustrating. Also, I didn’t see any quotes. If he did put some quotes he should have changed the color of the text.

Fernandez, Joanne http://joannefernandez.blogspot.com/
Joanne’s blog was a little short on the word count. Reading it I had a hard time identifying the quotes that were used. I don’t know if there were 20 quotes or not, because they are not formatted differently from the standard text in the blog. Trying to figure this out while staring at white text on a dark gray background causes my eyes to strain and it turned me off from reading the blog altogether.

Klatsky, Rebekah Anne http://rebekahklatsky.blogspot.com/
Rebekah’s blog was slightly confusing to me. I know the subject matter for the class is Intellectual Property law, but some of her questions seemed to be more familiar to marriage law. I don’t know why she opted to ask those types of questions. For this reason she gets moved closer to the bottom of this list. Also, her quotes were formatted in such a way that they were hard to identify and read. This is important to me so that I can see how relevant they are.

Fernandez, Ryan Louis http://rtypemedia.blogspot.com/
Ryan is closer to the bottom of the list for a couple of reasons. First of all, his quotes were all but non-existent. I think I probably spotted 4 or 5, but the formatting was so similar to the regular text that I had a hard time finding and counting them. I know how hard it was to find a way to match a quote to the body of the text we were all writing for our final project. When a student doesn’t even put the effort to meet the 20 quote mark then it just turns me off. The other reason he’s closer to the bottom of the list is that the questions weren’t formatted properly either. I would have liked to read each question clearly, with an opportunity to reflect on the reason why he would have asked such a question. Instead he described why the questions mattered. I think he may have misinterpreted the project requirements.

Reaze, Shantay http://fashionandlaw.blogspot.com/
I was very disappointed with Shantay’s final project. It was well below standard as she didn’t post all 5 blog entries. She also did not include an ample amount of quotes. It saddens me to see my friend do so poorly on this assignment. I know how much it’s worth and I wish to see her excel, but I cannot grant credit where it is not earned. Sorry ‘Tay! I still love you friend!

Crissman, Jake Albert http://crissmanj.blogspot.com/
Jake was instantly moved down below the majority of the class with regards to his final project. The reason is his lack of labels. Without labels it makes it more difficult for us to find the final project and read it. This is something that we all knew we needed at the beginning of class. Upon further reading of his final project I realize that it was only half done. Some posts are non-existent while others are only half complete. Also, his quotes are so awkwardly formatted that they are difficult to identify and actually hurt his written composition. It would have helped him greatly to change the color of the quotes instead of simply making them bold.

Armellino, Stephen Joesph http://crimsonfists711.blogspot.com/
Stephen’s blog earned a spot near the bottom of the pile due to the fact that his labels were missing. I know it was a requirement that we all should have had done by no later than week two. Upon further investigation it turns out he didn’t even do his final project. The only blog post for his final project is the first one, about finding the lawyer, and even that one is only about 1 sentence.

Weel 11: Final Evaluation

Here I am. I’ve reached the end of the quarter and I can walk out of this classroom with my head held high. This class presented to me a number of unique challenges which I must admit I did not anticipate. Most of the reading and writing was familiar to me. I’m a studious person so I can read and be prepared for most exams or any writing assignments that will be asked of me. The difficulty for me came with the introduction and maintenance of twitter. I am not the type of person who tweets on a regular basis. This class required me to tweet every single day. There would be days that I would sometimes completely forget to do that. As an individual it’s not difficult for me to have an opinion and voice that opinion. The difficulty is with remembering to visit an online portal and typing 140 words.

Aside from that I feel I performed well and met the requirements of the class. During class time I would participate and ask questions which I felt were not only relevant to my chosen career path, but also questions that could be potentially helpful to other students. Something I know about people is they don’t know how to ask questions, they may lack the courage to ask, or they could merely be too nervous to word the question in a manner that would return to them the answer that would most benefit them. I see myself as the type of student who tries not only for himself, but for others as well. I know I don’t deserve full credit for the quarter, but I feel I did my best. The grade I feel I deserve for this class is an A-.

Week 10 EOC: Robert Kearns

The movie Flash of Genius depicts the struggle that Robert Kearns went through with his battle against the Ford and Chrystler motor companies. The motor companies infringed on his patent rights when they started releasing models featuring the intermitent windshield wiper, which he invented.

The battle against the big corporations took almost 2 decades and cost him more than his time. His wife left him and his children distanced themselves from him. Is losing your family worth 30 million dollars? That depends entirely on the individual. I don't have my own children and I'm not married, so the only family I have is my mother and sister. Would I sacrifice them for 30 million dollars? No.

Certain crusades are too costly.

BOC Week 10: Lawyer Jokes

The following jokes can be found at http://www.lawyer-jokes.us/


Joke #1:
A golfer hooked his tee shot over a hill and onto the next fairway. Walking toward his ball, he saw a man lying on the ground, groaning with pain.

“I’m an attorney,” the wincing man said, “and this is going to cost you $5000.”

“I’m sorry, I’m really sorry,” the concerned golfer replied. “But I did yell ‘fore’.”

“I’ll take it,” the attorney said.


Joke #2:
How do you tell if it is REALLY cold outside?

A lawyer has his hands in his own pockets


Joke #3:
What do you have when a lawyer is buried up to his neck in sand?

Not enough sand.


Joke #4:
NASA was interviewing professionals to be sent to Mars. Only one could go — and couldn’t return to Earth.

The first applicant, an engineer, was asked how much he wanted to be paid for going. “A million dollars,” he answered, “because I want to donate it to M.I.T.”

The next applicant, a doctor, was asked the same question. He asked for $2 million. “I want to give a million to my family,” he explained, “and leave the other million for the advancement of medical research.”

The last applicant was a lawyer. When asked how much money he wanted, he whispered in the interviewer’s ear, “Three million dollars.”

“Why so much more than the others?” asked the interviewer.

The lawyer replied, “If you give me $3 million, I’ll give you $1 million, I’ll keep $1 million, and we’ll send the engineer to Mars.”

Week 9: First Amendment & The News

Today I was asked to write a 300 word blog about how I interpret the recent announced plans by Rev. Terry Jones to burn the Koran on September 11, 2010. The general idea is that doing so will put American lives in jeopardy in Muslim countries. Logically, it makes sense to believe this. This action could give Muslim extremists something to use as fuel to enflame their Jihad. Does the first amendment protect someone if they choose to do this? Can Rev. Terry Jones be arrested for inciting further hatred for the U.S. in other countries? I don’t believe this singular act could cause such damage alone, but Terry Jones won’t be alone. He will be accompanied by his congregation and the footage of this action will be recorded and distributed throughout Muslim countries, there is no doubt about it. This poses a new question; is upholding the first amendment worth risking American lives? I wonder what a soldier would say about it. After all, it is them who are putting their lives on the line to protect our freedoms; including the freedom of speech. A person could argue that to be an American patriot, one would need to embrace the risks of true freedom. I think there should always be a balance, that some things should not come to pass. I know that many people have been upset by the idea of a mosque being built at ground zero; the place where the two towers of the world trade center once stood. It makes sense to be sensitive to this concept as it was a group of Muslim extremists who killed all those innocent people when the 9/11 attacks happened. But burning a Koran as a religious statement will not bring any of those people back. It will not help to cultivate diplomacy in Muslim countries. To be quite frank, there is absolutely nothing to be gained from burning the Koran.

5. Your own argument and opinions:

It’s difficult for me to have any argument against a real attorney. I thought I knew the answers to my questions, but I was surprised by some of the responses. I, however, definitely have opinions. I understand that the law is not always black and white. That sometimes, certain variables will come into play and change the complexion of a claim or lawsuit. This further reinforces the importance of paying attention details, especially when the smallest detail can change the course of a court case.

In the end I know that I will almost always only be dealing with a Trademark

"A trademark is a distinctive word, phrase, logo, graphic symbol, or other device that is used to identify the source of a product or service and to distinguish it from competitors.." Patent, Copyright & Trademark; Richard Stim, page 366

or Copyright.

"A copyright consists of a bundle of rights held by the author or developer of an original work of authorship. The term 'copyright' applies both to the entire bundle of rights and to any individual right or part of an individual right." Patent, Copyright & Trademark; Richard Stim, page 219

I don't expect that I'll ever need an attorney to help with a Patent, but then again who knows if I may have a flash of genius and actually invent something innovative.

"A patent is a grant by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that allows the patent owner to maintain a monopoly for a limited period of time on the use and development of an invention." Patent, Copyright & Trademark; Richard Stim, page 16

4. Rule of law:

My attorney didn’t quote precedents. He did not give examples of other court cases. I didn’t expect him to as this wasn’t a court room and all I was really seeking from him were answers to some general questions. I do, however, understand the importance of precedents.

"Intellectual property laws, along with court decisions and regulations, establish rules for..." Patent, Copyright & Trademark; Richard Stim, page 5

Ultimately, my goal was to evaluate his responses and get a “feel” for the type of attorney he was. He was very confident and didn’t assume I was guilty of any infringing, even when I asked questions that hinted at such action. Furthermore, even if I was guilty of infringing there is nothing to stop me from doing so.

"Intellectual property laws don't prevent someone from stepping on the owner's rights. But the laws do give an owner the ammunition to take a trespasser to court." Patent, Copyright & Trademark; Richard Stim, page 5