Random thoughts as always. First, I so appreciate your helpful prods and peptalks. All very much needed. First random thought: I learned today that paid Zoom accounts can monitor eye contact during group activities. A diversion of gaze longer than 30 seconds results in a figurative whack on the knuckles with the steel-edged ruler. And the audio of group activities can be recorded "in the cloud" for later consumption. See also "Boss."
Sharing magnificence with others? Well, my wife did the actual sharing; I just gave her the contents of a box of nitrile gloves that I keep on hand for projects like staining, gluing or painting. Beth took the gloves to a local medical society that is collecting/dispersing such donations. Citrus hand cleaner is a good fallback for me in case I have an urge to task. So far clinical trials haven't been conducted to test efficacy for COVID-19 cases...
Last, Bill Withers passed away today (maybe yesterday). Listened to his music lots in my college/graduate school days. Look for "A Lovely Day" and I suspect it will provide that sense of magnificence.
Hi Gary! I listened to Bill Withers. Lovely day is....lovely!
I’m not sure what you mean about Zoom? “Boss” Too much observation and control? The platform just sent me a note about increased security measures they’ve implemented.
Hi Gail, My "Boss" comment was in response to a reporter's critique of the 30-second rule. His point was he multi-tasks while reporting/participating, for a wide range of reasons. All journalistically reasonable actions. Using a tablet requires closing one view while searching for corroboration or recording notes on the same device. Just hard to pull that off in 30 seconds. I guess monitoring eye attention gave it a "Big Brother" feeling!
Also, I have never established a FaceBook account and I was distressed to learn that Zoom was sending user data to FaceBook even for folks without an account. Sales to third party data farmers is well within the realm of possibility, too, as the user agreement suggests such possibilities in a round about way.
Of course Google is monitoring our comings and goings now to evaluate how well folks are being "safer at home" now that many states have suggested that course of action. No escaping our modern Big Brother environment.
That’s what I thought you meant...big brother environment. As best I can tell, there’s no escaping it. I texted some family members about the competitive Scrabble games happening at our kitchen table and guess what? Instagram is now advertising Scrabble Go in my feed.
That is great! How are online classes going? What do your students think? Here....N is challenged by online. He said it is harder and he prefers the classroom. It's early days--he just started on Monday. He has way more free time. His challenge will be to focus when he needs to, and then use free time constructively.
It's going better than I expected. Most of the kids are having difficulty with time management, and are missing messages, but they've all been trying. It occurred to me a little while ago that they've probably never had this much communication practice before. Reading and writing and speaking...most of my kids have IEP goals in those areas. So, I've decided to reduce the assignments in my own reading and English classes, which will hopefully enable them to keep up in all their classes.
That said, I'm with N, though I could get used to spending my days in yoga pants.
Random thoughts as always. First, I so appreciate your helpful prods and peptalks. All very much needed. First random thought: I learned today that paid Zoom accounts can monitor eye contact during group activities. A diversion of gaze longer than 30 seconds results in a figurative whack on the knuckles with the steel-edged ruler. And the audio of group activities can be recorded "in the cloud" for later consumption. See also "Boss."
Sharing magnificence with others? Well, my wife did the actual sharing; I just gave her the contents of a box of nitrile gloves that I keep on hand for projects like staining, gluing or painting. Beth took the gloves to a local medical society that is collecting/dispersing such donations. Citrus hand cleaner is a good fallback for me in case I have an urge to task. So far clinical trials haven't been conducted to test efficacy for COVID-19 cases...
Last, Bill Withers passed away today (maybe yesterday). Listened to his music lots in my college/graduate school days. Look for "A Lovely Day" and I suspect it will provide that sense of magnificence.
Hi Gary! I listened to Bill Withers. Lovely day is....lovely!
I’m not sure what you mean about Zoom? “Boss” Too much observation and control? The platform just sent me a note about increased security measures they’ve implemented.
Sending wishes for a lovely day!
Hi Gail, My "Boss" comment was in response to a reporter's critique of the 30-second rule. His point was he multi-tasks while reporting/participating, for a wide range of reasons. All journalistically reasonable actions. Using a tablet requires closing one view while searching for corroboration or recording notes on the same device. Just hard to pull that off in 30 seconds. I guess monitoring eye attention gave it a "Big Brother" feeling!
Also, I have never established a FaceBook account and I was distressed to learn that Zoom was sending user data to FaceBook even for folks without an account. Sales to third party data farmers is well within the realm of possibility, too, as the user agreement suggests such possibilities in a round about way.
Of course Google is monitoring our comings and goings now to evaluate how well folks are being "safer at home" now that many states have suggested that course of action. No escaping our modern Big Brother environment.
That’s what I thought you meant...big brother environment. As best I can tell, there’s no escaping it. I texted some family members about the competitive Scrabble games happening at our kitchen table and guess what? Instagram is now advertising Scrabble Go in my feed.
What privacy?
I can't believe it's been almost four years! We started about the same time!
I think I made my first post to 100 Naked Words in May--yes! four years ago. :)
For at least the next several weeks, I'm bringing my magnificence to others through Google Classroom. Haha!
That is great! How are online classes going? What do your students think? Here....N is challenged by online. He said it is harder and he prefers the classroom. It's early days--he just started on Monday. He has way more free time. His challenge will be to focus when he needs to, and then use free time constructively.
It's going better than I expected. Most of the kids are having difficulty with time management, and are missing messages, but they've all been trying. It occurred to me a little while ago that they've probably never had this much communication practice before. Reading and writing and speaking...most of my kids have IEP goals in those areas. So, I've decided to reduce the assignments in my own reading and English classes, which will hopefully enable them to keep up in all their classes.
That said, I'm with N, though I could get used to spending my days in yoga pants.
So comfortable...yoga pants. :)