New Stiles Work Honors 60th Anniversary of Desegregation :: Law Dawg of the Month - Bebe :: Tech Tip - How to Be a Cat :: Upcoming Outages
AMICUS BRIEFS
March 2021
Alexander Campbell King Law Library
New Stiles Work Honors 60th Anniversary of Desegregation at UGA
By Rachel Evans
Earlier this week faculty, staff, students and alums came together virtually for an art unveiling of a new work by William Elliott Stiles Jr. (J.D. 2006). In addition to Dean Peter “Bo” Rutledge speaking at the event, many members of the law school community including representatives of the Black Law Students Association shared comments about the new painting and reflections on the 60th anniversary of desegregation of the University of Georgia. Titled “1961”, Stiles shared notes about this special piece with those in attendance, including depictions of the historic events from that year. Although all of his works are oil on canvas, several include mixed media elements such as “Arms” and “Loving vs. Virginia.” “1961” expands on this collage-style and incorporates imagery inspired by the experiences of Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes. For full notes on “1961”, we encourage you to browse the Stiles Collection catalog online. “1961” joins more than ten other items in the Concept Collection hanging in the hallway gallery of the second floor of Hirsch Hall. If you are able to visit the school in person, print copies of the catalog booklet are available in the hallway. A second new painting by Stiles also joined the collection this week titled “Madam Vice President”. It serves as a companion piece to the 2018 work “American Presidents“. . . . All of the items in the Stiles Collection are available to browse online in our institutional repository Digital Commons. A previous blog post includes more information about artist William Elliott Stiles Jr. and his first piece to join the library’s catalog in 2004 titled “The Common Law“. Read this article in full on our blog at ugalawlibrary.wordpress.com
“Madam Vice President” 31 x 122 cm, oil on canvas (2021)
“American Presidents” 31 x 122 cm, oil on canvas (2018)
Law Dawg of the Month: Bebe By Anne Burnett The Law Dawg for March is Bebe, who lives with 2L Jordana Friedman. She is a 12 y.o. Maltese that we adopted during quarantine. She is cute and she absolutely knows it. The world is her runway – she will dance and strut her stuff everywhere she goes. Bebe is the biggest cuddler in the world and is happiest right by your side. She is the furthest thing from a regular dog (no fetch skills, not friends with other dogs (except JoJo, the pup belonging to fellow 2L Izzy), hates dog food, etc.), but is the best and sweetest pup you will ever meet. All members of the Law School Community (students, faculty and staff) are invited to submit a photo for possible selection as the Law Dawg. Please note that honorary Law Dawgs (i.e. those of the feline, equine, porcine, avian, reptilian, etc. persuasion) are eligible as well. Please send your Law Dawg photo(s) to aburnett@uga.edu.
March 2021
Alexander Campbell King Law Library
Transforming Yourself (Hopefully) On Purpose By Jason Tubinis
Using software to transform yourself in a Zoom meeting is so simple you can do it by accident! Just ask Rod Ponton, who appeared in a meeting with the 394th Judicial District Court of Texas as a fluffy white kitten. The now-famous video of Judge Gibbs Bauer gently informing Mr. Ponton that he has a ‘Zoom filter’ on while the kittens eyes dart madly around (presumably capturing the actual Mr. Ponton’s efforts to disable the filter) shows how easy, hilarious, and potentially mortifying customizing your video conferencing software can be.
Rod Ponton accidentally practicing law as a cat
These filters use your camera to track the motion of your face/body and translate the movement onto a computergenerated model. The filter then replaces your normal camera feed with a ‘fake’ video source that your video conferencing software thinks is the image coming from your camera. The actual concept behind the video filters is very straightforward, but the technology that enables it is incredibly advanced: facial recognition, motion tracking (both of which are technologies that have seen huge advances thanks to Artificial Intelligence), and highly customized CG models all work in tandem to replace your normal video with a talking, blinking, and moving shark/Shiba inu/red panda/whatever. If you’d like to play around or test some of this software, there are some issues you should consider: · It’s highly recommended you create a free Zoom account separate from your school/work account. That way you can mess around all you’d like without the worry that you might show up for class as a red panda. · The software is free to try, but some will have an option to further customize it with real money. Be mindful of what you click on and whether that model of anthropomorphic alligator wearing a biker jacket and sunglasses is worth $9.99. · The software can be pretty demanding on your hardware. Very simple filters might be fine, but the really fancy ones can put some serious stress on older phones or laptops. At best the animation will be a bit choppy, but at worst it may drain/damage your battery or make you unable to meaningfully use video conferencing software. Disclaimers aside, here are some easy suggestions to try out: · Animaze (https://www.animaze.us/): Available free on Steam for PC or as an iPhone app. Provides you with a small set of characters to choose from with some in-app currency to buy more premium models. Very easy to set up and run. Mainly focused on fully replacing your entire video with a CG model. · Snap Camera (https://snapcamera.snapchat.com/): Provided by Snapchat. Available free for PC and Mac. Emphasizes the “augmented reality” (AR for short) aspect by putting CG accessories on your video. Imagine wacky hats, outfits, or if you’ve ever wanted to look like a werewolf. · Zoom (https://zoom.us): Zoom has its own (very limited) set of built in filters. Just head to Preferences > “Background & Filters” > “Video Filters”. These are very basic filters and virtual “stickers”, but these are the easiest, least demanding filters available. They’re also the ones that are easiest to accidentally enable in a real meeting/class, so be careful! If this seems like a fad, you might be right! But it’s fun one that doesn’t cost anything to play with at a very superficial level, and it might be just the thing to liven up your weekly Zoom call with friends or family. Welcome to 2021: the only year weirder than 2020 (so far)!
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We hope you have a relaxing break!