Week 4 EOC "Death Race Jeopardy"

Learning patent definitions can be hard and tiring, but a unique and innovative way to learn is by playing Jeopardy.  In this game you first must have four categories and then five different questions varying in difficulty. In doing this you are forced to look through and read the definitions and find ones that may or may not pertain to your degree.  The more difficult process of this is rewording them so that you don't use the answers in the questions, while giving clues enough to help them guess the right answer.  For myself I found this very helpful although I may not have remembered all the words and definitions I learned key phrases that everyone seemed to use in theirs so that when a question came up on the screen that I had an idea of where to look.  I will say one draw back for me was my need to know for sure if I was right rather than saying what I believed what it was and then looking to confirm my suspicions.  I think this was a very helpful learning experience for this kind of study. Not everyone learns the same and some of us can't just sit down and memorize that answers for every question, but having that talent would make studying so much easier.  This allows us to work with and against each other in a friendly environment, so that we push each other in a positive way. I think as far as learning new definitions may be hard to say, because the way we all worded it different can have an affect on how we retained the knowledge, meaning that if we would have read it to ourselves we may have chosen different key words to help remember they by. Assuming that they test questions would have those same key identifiers.  But as a whole I think it went over well, it lets people know where they stand and how much more work (studying) they need to do to be ready for the exam in the up coming week.

Week 3 EOC "Stolen Valor"

The Stolen Valor Act was struck down by the supreme court ruling that "by a 6-3 decision, the high court said the right to lie about medals and military service, while "contemptible" and worthy of outrage and ridicule, is protected by the 1st Amendment."~ Los Angles Times. The first amendment to protect our freedom of speech is wonderful in the content that we are free to have opinions and voice them out loud. To protest against things without fear from our government and punishment by its laws. But this gives free rein to all companies that wish to lie about their product they are selling. To say that their product is the best, or that it's better than their competitors is no longer false advertising now it's just a lie, which is protected under the First Amendment of their freedom of speech and they can longer be sued. Such a fine line these companies wish to walk. It seems they are too busy trying to make money and keep their money that they no longer care about a code of ethics. As for Xavier Alvarez, "he was indicted and pleaded guilty with the understanding that he would challenge the law's constitutionality in his appeal. He was sentenced under the Stolen Valor Act to more than 400 hours of community service at a veterans hospital and fined $5,000." ~ Fox News  So the court system did something for the real Veterans and the true heroes of the wars. But in the end did it effect anything, or did it just give a window of opportunities for others to skirt around the law?  As far as the courts and First Amendment, "the court has, in the past, endorsed a number of limitations to the First Amendment: Libel, certain kinds of obscene speech, incitement to violence and fraud are some of the categories that the court has ruled are not protected free speech; the court has also allowed certain restrictions on the exercise of free speech in public school classrooms. But for the most part, speech in open forum has to cause some kind of direct, tangible harm to be considered as unprotected under the Constitution" ~ Las Vegas Sun.  But it also says under the Stolen Valor Act that you can't say that you were in the military or received any metal falsely if it ends in the you receiving something of value, but doesn't specify what is of value. Ruling will be decided on Thursday.

Week 2 EOC: "Erin Brockovich"

The actual lawsuit claim of the PG&E was $333M. So to that the lawyer fees at 40% got $133.6M and Erin Brockovich got $2M in bonuses.  The case itself thinking that any form of money would settle for what these people would have to deal with for the rest of their lives in medical bills and the tribulations that they will be saddled with for the rest of their lives.  But they did settle. For PG&E to have begun by skimming over the real harm done shows that like all corporations only care about is themselves and not those they have harmed. And that unlike a lawyer Erin was looking for real justice to help the people that she became friends with.  This lawsuit is a harsh reality of the world around us. The corporations are trying to look good in the eyes of those around them, but what they are really doing is using their power a status to manipulate the systems to keep things out of courts and then when they do got to court then they try to smudge over the real damage they have caused. While the people that were truly hurt and their lives destroyed or devastated in this particular incident, the company screwed up and those people deserved to be compensated for their lives. But what amount would be enough? Could any amount be enough when you think of your future and what it will be without because of the company. This is where companies should have more of a heart and think ahead to prevent these kinds of problems and not just care about the bottom line. Think about the people and what damage it could have. Follow the rules and regulations, they are there for a reason not to simply annoy and slow down the process. As far as lawyers and the like, I will be lucky to never have one, but if fate hands me a different card I hope that he is more interested about justice than an amount of money he could win from my case. Justice seems to be an illusion that a person strives to live by an people can exploit.
Information found at http://fumento.com/brockovich/mickeyerin.html

Week 1 EOC: "Voice"

As an animator and illustrator, I am a story teller.  I use camera angles to make you feel something towards a character or a place.  I show you worlds seen and unseen by man. I make you cheer for the protagonist and loathe the antagonist, and transport you to a different time and place. A wild imagination is my best tool and resource, the only limitations are the ones I give to myself. I can't image a better place to work, than with other creative minds coming together and creating something wonderful. When their ideas bounce together to create something new, to have an idea, even a simple idea become something that others will enjoy. Someone once said that " if you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life." No truer words were spoken. I may be an animator, but I am a storyteller first and foremost.  My greatest pleasure is to make others smile. To have them forget the trials and tribulations of their days. To open up a world that is new and wonderful. To bring hope, to give ideas, to inspire someone. I found many medias while going to school some that I had heard about and others I hadn't even known were out there. And in them I found my own creativity and more of my passion. In many of my classes I found my weaknesses and that no matter what "failure is not an option". I find now that my words have found their way back to me. Inspiration, to have an idea and give to someone else and then have it grow in them and have it handed back to you. It's like planting a seed and watching it grow. I have no interest in taking credit for all my work, but merely to work in a group of very creative people, and minds. I love spending time animating and becoming frustrated in something I didn't know how to do, but in the end not giving up and accomplishing so much and such little time.