Week 6 EOC: Illicit

Watching the National Geographic’s documentary on illicit trade was very eye opening. Even though I had some faint idea on what went on with forgeries and fakes, I was unaware at the depth of the issue. With the internet and how technology has been rapidly advancing, it’s nothing short of amazing at how knock-off products goes from production to being sold at the corner.

Week 4 EOC

After reading the article about the new wave of pro-bono cases being accepted by lawyers hoping to argue a case before the United States Supreme Court, the level of loathing I have for lawyers as a whole has increased. Using a case as ways to further the lawyers own standing or their firms standing is deplorable, especially if the lawyer has little experience at that level of practice. At the highest level of our judicial system, the judges have years of experience to draw upon, and have had to prove themselves worthy of the position. To have a lawyer come before the Supreme Court of the United States for that reason is an insult not only to the lawyers who have earned their place there by experience and time, but it’s an insult to the judges themselves along with the people on both sides of the case.

Week 4 Deathrace Jeopardy

Death-Race Jeopardy. This was definitely one of the more interesting in-class games that I have encountered. Working with other team members to come up with the correct answers before the other teams was quite entertaining and exhilarating. Being the “runner”, the person that has to go up and write the answer, was stressful at times, but very fun. The pressure to write down the answer when there were but a few seconds left added to the enjoyment. After the first few questions, the runners started to be creative with how they were protecting their answers to the other teams would have less of a chance to copy the answer, in the event that they had the correct one that is.
I was quite surprised at how the instructor used points that each person wins to affect the mid-term test. This is the first time I have encountered anything like this in a classroom setting. For the last round, having each group pool as many of their cards together as they want for the wager was very interesting. I was at first unsure as to how this would affect my card count (I had only 4), but it turned out that my points weren’t in jeopardy (no pun intended). My group wagered ten total points between us. We won the final round and that gave us each an extra 40 points plus the points we didn’t wager towards the mid-term final.

The “Bayh-Dole Act” was one of the more interesting answers that we encountered. It’s basically the ability for Universities to obtain patents on inventions that were created with federal funding.
“OG” for Official Gazette was also one of the terms that didn’t catch in my mind while studying. This is one of two weekly online publications done by the USPTO.

Week 1 EOC: My Voice

I have always been interested in art since I was a small child. It has been a part of my life and has helped shape who I am. After working in several non-creative fields for a number of years, ranging from casino dealing to Computer sales & repair, I decided to make a career move to one of my longest passions, Photography. With the coming of the digital age of photography, my background in fine arts and photography helps to give me a unique perspective and vision. The ability to see things around me, the unusual and odd, helps fuel my vision and the direction in my work.

My current scholastic goal is to broaden my skills as a photographer, learning everything I can about the different styles and techniques available. Currently, I am working with both HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography, creating and morphing it into a personal style that is unique to me, and Studio Photography, learning how to properly light and position everything from crystal glass to people.

With my vision and talent, I am able to create images that are exciting and enjoyable to look at. I excel at landscape photography and still life photography, while brining new and interesting outlooks to both.