February 1st, 2011
Change is in the wind and it’s coming via Capitol Hill. The current issue of patent infringement abuse taking place in the court houses of Marshall, Texarkana, and Tyler Texas has Big Brother on its back now.
Facing this issue that is taking place in East Texas might not be on the top of the list of legislation, but it is definitely something that must be taken care of. The main issue is due mostly to the abuse that is taking place.
Although the term “patent troll” has been around for much longer, it has become more of a common phrase in the past 5-6 years. Patent trolls are the culprits responsible for the rise of patent infringement cases due to their excessive use of the court system in order to gain wealth.
Patent trolls are companies who look to push patent infringement to the limit by using any patents that they hold to target any other business that has a product or technology that has any similarity to their patent in order to sue them for damages.
More times than not they actually look to buy patents off of others. The government has taken notice of the abuse and has already submitted one bill to bring reform to patent infringement cases.
The major keys that they have identified is, first, to give the judges more responsibility by reviewing how much damage was done in by the product or technology and the other responsibility is to access how much really due to the company holding the patent.
The second major idea is to limit “forum shopping” that is, to limit cases being held in locations favorable to plaintiffs. So far no bills have been passed yet.
Whatever your perspective is about big government or little government, the abuse of the legal system has gotten them involved and that is just the beginning.
Tags: 6 Years, Big Brother, Capitol Hill, Common Phrase, Court Houses, Culprits, Current Issue, Damages, East Texas, east texas patent troll, Legislation, Major Keys, Marshall, Patent Infringement Cases, patent troll legislation, patent troll reform, Patents, Perspective, Plaintiffs, Similarity, Texarkana Texas, Trolls, Tyler Texas
Posted in Attorneys | No Comments »
January 21st, 2011
At the Tyler Texas Simon mall you have likely been asked if you wanted your hair straightened no matter whether you were a guy, a girl, your hair was already straight, and any number of other reasons.
This is interruption marketing at its best depending on the perspective. You may have been an old grandfather going to the GNC store to buy some prune juice pills but a nice young girl with a foreign accent got your attention and asked if you want your hair straightened or a finger nail manicure.
The grandfather may have just come off an assisted living bus that dropped off him and several other elderly people off and next to prune juice pills a manicure and conversation with a pretty talkative young girl sounds great!
So when walking through the mall in Tyler Texas and you get asked for a manicure even though you are a 34 – 84 year old guy think about the service to the elderly. You can see a positive in that these kiosk guys and girls provide a level of social interaction for neglected elderly that visit the local Tyler mall sometimes just to stretch their legs.
Tags: Assisted Living, Elderly People, Finger Nail, Foreign Accent, Gnc Store, Guys And Girls, Interruption, Kiosk, Legs, Mall Kiosks, Marketing, Nail Manicure, Perspective, Pills, Prune Juice, Simon Mall, Social Interaction, Tyler Mall, Tyler Mall kiosks, Tyler Texas, Tyler TX Mall, Young Girl
Posted in Tyler Businesses | No Comments »
January 16th, 2011
Our society has become more and more transient. Fewer people today actually live or stay in the town in which they were born or grew up. In my parent’s generation, men worked for a single company their entire lives in the hopes of retiring and “getting the gold watch.” Today no one seems to work for the same company for much more than five to ten years before deciding it’s time to advance their career elsewhere. The internet, smart phones, lap top computers, ipads and innumerable other technologies have added to our increased mobility. We are a society more on the go than ever before. This mobility (which is both good and bad I think) has even impacted our religious life. It used to be that parishioners were generally life- long members of a particular church. Members were baptized, married and had their children baptized in the same communities. Historically church records have recorded the stories of families for generations. Unfortunately this too is changing. Today people change churches like they do jobs. The effect is often that newer younger churches offer a watered down message in favor of increased music or greater media content. Unfortunately, age old traditions, and important doctrines are often lost to younger Christians. Overall the church (meaning the church universal encompassing all denominations) has done a poor job teaching younger Christians the faith.
As a means of retaining younger members and attracting new ones, many main line traditional churches these days are offering what is called contemporary services. While the normal weekly service might be the accepted method of worship for members who have grown up in those churches, they can be significantly different for perspective attendees from different denominations. Starting January thirtieth, Christ Episcopal Church in Tyler will be rolling out its new contemporary service. But this is not simply mass with a band instead of a choir. The purpose of this new service is to offer young adults and perspective members a ground floor entry to the Episcopal Church. The service will have a simplified liturgy, a slightly longer homily or sermon (about twenty minutes), and of course more contemporary music. The hope is that this new format will help young people and non Episcopalians to connect with the Eucharist (which will remain a weekly practice) in perhaps a new and deeper way. The point is not to discontinue the church’s traditional practices, but to attract people buy better explaining them.
For more information on Christ Church visit their webpage at http://www.christchurchtyler.org/welcome.htm or call the church office at (903) 597-9854.
Tags: Attendees, Christ Episcopal Church, Christians, Church Members, Contemporary Service, Contemporary Services, Different Denominations, Doctrines, Faith, Generations, Gold Watch, Parishioners, Perspective, Poor Job, Religious Life, Single Company, Smart Phones, Top Computers, Traditional Churches, Traditions, Tyler Texas
Posted in Episcopal | No Comments »
August 6th, 2010
Time and time again studies show that people who have a strong support system will achieve their goals quicker, easier, and with more determination. Perhaps it’s knowing there are others going through the same thing. Maybe it’s having expert advice available on demand. Even our own pride may play a small role as it pushes us to prove to others we are capable of finishing the task at hand. Whatever the reasons are behind the success, one thing is certain: it works!
If you have tried countless times to lose weight and every time it seems you just can’t make it past the first few days, it may be time to consider joining a Tyler, Texas weight loss clinic. These clinics are usually supervised by a specially trained medical staff that can put you on a customized program that fits your own personal situation. Oftentimes these clinics host regular group sessions that allow fellow dieters the opportunity to come together to share success stories, moments of inspiration, and even tears of despair. It is not uncommon for friendships made at these groups to continue on for a lifetime, even after the goal of weight loss has been achieved.
Joining a Tyler, Texas weight loss clinic could be the very thing you need in order to put your weight into perspective and finally find the motivation you need to do something about it. Not only will you get the information, you will also be provided with all the tools you need to make this time the last time.
Tags: Countless Times, Despair, Dieters, Expert Advice, First Few Days, Friendships, Group Sessions, Inspiration, Last Time, Lifetime, Medical Staff, Motivation, One Thing, Personal Situation, Perspective, Pride, Success Stories, Tyler Texas, Weight Loss Clinic, Weight Loss Clinics
Posted in Self-improvement, Weight Loss | No Comments »
July 21st, 2010
I’m not entirely sure what brought up the memory of dining at the Sacred Spur restaurant just outside Gladewater. I guess I saw it on a community site and started reading and watching the reports and critiques on the rustic dining there and I found no one with whom I could entirely agree. Even the report listed on Tyler TX Directory while accurate, was short. So I decided that there was room for another report, especially given that the passage of time has perhaps allowed for a little perspective on my visit.
First off, in the interest of full disclosure I was present at the same event as the author of the first directory article on the Sacred Spur. Spending the evening at the Spur is like going to an off- beat movie that some viewers love, and others despise. You either get it or you don’t. My father, who loves the mythology of the west and the cowboy mystique, got it. Our out of town guests decidedly, did not. The Sacred Spur is only open a couple of nights a week, Fridays and Saturdays. The food is very simple, steaks, chicken, potatoes and an admittedly pretty Spartan salad bar. Meat is cooked over a very old school hanging grill. There is usually musical entertainment of some kind, generally a local country band or artist. The food is expertly cooked. My steak was a beautiful medium rare. Reservations are highly recommended however as the Spur is not a dining institution, it’s very much a mom and pop kind of business (or should I say ma and pa). This was an issue at the time of my visit since they actually ran out of most cuts of steak, something prone to happen at this sort of casual family run restaurant. When the food is gone it’s gone. Another issue was the fact the store’s debit card register was down. Evidently it had been down all night and the staff had failed to warn us. Fortunately for them our party was able to scrape up enough coin to pay the bill. If you go, best to take some cash just in case.
A lot has been written and reported on the Spur. It has been really praised in the news and dining reports in our area. It’s often held up as traditional Texas fare. I’m not sure however that grilling a great steak alone constitutes Texas cooking. When I think of traditional Texan food I think bar-b-q. Steaks are good, Texas beef the best of course, but I’ve had good steaks many places. If I want good brisket or other forms of BBQ, Texas is really the only place to go.
If the Spur was closer to Tyler I would not object to going more often. As it is, the drive makes it a lot of work. The food is good but it’s also pricey, and given the inconvenience of travel, and the propensity to occasionally run out of food it can be a gamble. One other thing, be sure any guests you bring along are good sports. If they’re adverse to any risk and not adventurous dinners, or if they don’t appreciate the novelty or local color, take them to Luby’s. At least they’ll know what they’re getting and you won’t have to hear about for the rest of the night. For more information on the Sacred Spur see the following web pages: http://www.facebook.com/pages/East-Mountain-TX/The-Sacred-Spur-Ranch/152459857514, or http://www.myspace.com/thesacredspurranch. Also, check out the report by KETK, http://www.ketknbc.com/news/eats-texas-the-sacred-spur-ranch. Lastly, look for the title, Sacred Spur Ranch – A rustic authentic Cowboy ranch restaurant, located elsewhere on this site.
Tags: Cuts Of Steak, Debit Card, Fridays, Full Disclosure, Local Country, Mom, Musical Entertainment, Mystique, Mythology, Old School, Passage Of Time, Perspective, Potatoes, Salad Bar, Saturdays, Spur, Steaks Chicken, Town Guests, Tx Directory, Tyler TX
Posted in Restaurants, Texas Style | No Comments »
