My Wrap-Up, 25-31 DEC 2022

Hi everybody! Christa here with how I spent the last week of the year.

I haven't been feeling quite myself this week.?Perhaps it's our recent financial struggles or the drastic change of weather. Maybe a combination of the two. That, plus my teen is on Christmas vacation. With no real routine, I feel like I'm on vacation too ??. We've been thoroughly enjoying relaxation on our staycation??. I don't feel I have accomplished much this week ??.?

We opened a few presents on Christmas. This year it was more about the presence than the presents though.?By Tuesday I was worried if we had enough to carry us through to Friday. We did it though ??. We enjoyed many movies and naps this week. I highly recommend:

• Strange World (Disney+)
• National Treasure: Edge of History (Disney+)

Training:

LinkedIn Learning: Creative Cloud Crash Course by Paul Trani .

• Chapter 2.2 Adobe Illustrator on iPad: I attempted this section several times. Since I do not own an iPad, this part of the course proved to be a challenge. While trying to find the same functions on my Surface Studio, I figured out how to switch the view to Essentials, Essentials Classic, and Touch Mode View.?What Paul's screen looked like was a combination of Essentials and Touch Mode. First let me say, this is not how I like to draw! I DO NOT enjoy the line curve, anchor, path type of drawing AT ALL! I would just rather draw the toucan, than fiddle with all that. Still, I pushed through. I drew the beak, body, and eye.?I then changed the beak to a color point gradient fill. When I couldn't find the symmetrical setting to do the tail, I was over it.?This was the third time I attempted this part of the course.?Since I didn't find this style of drawing enjoyable anyway.?I noted it as a skill that needs to be developed through other Illustrator tutorials and moved on. It's a course to introduce you to all the best apps Creative Cloud has to offer. So far, this part of this app is not for me ??.?I do like what I did in the intro though.
• Chapter 2.3 Adobe Fresco: I LOVE this app! I had already been using it to do a Color & Brush Experiment. I was extremely excited to learn more about this app! Starting from a blank canvas, using the Pixel Brush > Basic > Pencil > Black I drew flower.?In the video, Paul uses the finger control to do erasing. On my Surface Studio with Surface Slim Pen, my shortcut button acts as an eraser.?Which I love. I added a layer to paint on, using the pencil sketch below as a guide. On the new layer Paul had me use live brushes. These brushes are amazing! I will note that Paul's paint bled quite a bit better on his iPad than mine did on the Surface. I started painting the outline and filling in the petals. Once that was done, Paul said to lock the transparency of that layer. This allowed me to paint with other colors on the petals only! No colors bleeding out of bounds all over the rest of the layer! For the pestle in the middle, we used the selection circle tool. Using oil paint this time I painted the circle red, which made everything stay in the lines! Then to show how the oil colors mix I chose yellow and ensured it would reload the yellow color every time I tapped the screen. Then I went back and added some details with an ink pen brush. Then I picked a leafy line brush and drew in some leafy lines. I really had fun with those. Then I duplicated the flower layer several times to add more flowers. I adjusted their size and position and just played with them a bit. Viola! There is a flower picture that is saved automatically!?I have to say this has been one of the most fun sections of the course so far.

Social:

I am a member of the Women In Cloud Network #WiCDigitalNetwork. This is a very encouraging group of highly intelligent women. I haven't done a whole lot in this group. I'm still fairly new and finding my footing. I originally joined while I was Substitute Teaching. I joined because they have many great women talking to policy makers around the world, even in the United Nations, talking about Data Privacy and Tech Policies. This was at a time when I was appalled by the lax almost nonexistent reporting policy of my own school corporation.?I was informed, by an anonymous source, there was a ransomware attack at the beginning of the school year. When I asked the State Police about it, they informed me it was reported to the proper authorities. This confirmed the report. Yet no letter was mailed to parents or even staff that were not privy to a school email address, informing them of even a possible data breach. So, no one was informed of the steps they could take to protect their children's data. This is INEXUSABLE! So, I joined their #TechPolicyAdvocacy Academy. It is my New Year's resolution to complete the courses in this academy, becoming a well-educated Tech Policy Advocate. This week they shared a very interesting Article showing why we need policy advocates.

Most apps used in US classrooms share students' personal data with advertisers, researchers find: Here are my Cliff Notes:

Schools in EVERY STATE covering HALF A MILLION KIDS were researched. 96% of the apps used at school were sending your kids' data to 3rd parties! Sometimes the school didn't even know!

Top 3rd parties to get your kids' data:

• Google
• Facebook
• Amazon
• Twitter

Some of the data they got:

• LOCATION! ??

Do your kids bring home a school issued laptop?

• Calendars!??

They know where your child plans to be and when!

• Contacts! ??

~1/4 of those apps were advertising to your children!

13% of those advertisements were target redirects!

• I don't know why they are allowing advertisements like that. Do you know how many ads my "added security" browser settings block for known issues!?

The issue is being brought about due to Covid-19's remote classroom environments. Stating that many schools entered agreements without looking to closely at the details or having an open discussion in public.

• I'm 99% sure that my school corporation is one of those.

Some apps weren't created with kids in mind, such as the New York Times, so of course they will see ads there. But they weren't anywhere near as bad at requesting information as CUSTOM MADE EDUCATIONAL APPS!

• The apps CREATED FOR SCHOOLS were LESS SAFE!
• They were the WORST OFFENDERS about SHARING YOUR KIDS' INFORMATION with 3rd parties.

IF YOU HAVE A CHILD UNDER 13:

• It doesn't matter what the administrator at your school says!
• Check out what the FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION says about it!
• The Federal Trade Commission in May?issued guidance?that education technology companies bound by federal children’s privacy protections for children under thirteen were prohibited from using the personal information collected from a child for any commercial purpose, even if the school authorized it to collect the information.
• End rant.?I hate to start the year on a negative note, but it is an issue that can no longer be ignored. I should make this part of my Adobe project.

On LinkedIn:

I had a very invigorating intellectual conversation with many people in response to a comment I made on a LinkedIn News post. We talked about AI, and the future it has in work. The fear of what roles AI might take away from people. How that may affect our children's job outlook.?How it might affect company recruitment. The pros and cons of automated systems and restaurants.?Minimum wage, housing costs, costs of living, and autism.

• It was received so well that I made my own post from my comment.

One thing that scared me in this discussion is how little people know about the Autism Spectrum!

• Some even thought it was a result of Covid.
• I HAVE TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS!
• I should make this my project for the Adobe Stock Advocates fund. Circles of Activism for Autism awareness.

Saturday night, I fell asleep at about 9:30pm. I just didn't have the energy to stay up. At 12am I was awoken by the sounds of fireworks. It indicated the new year for me. I yelled Happy New Year and went right back to sleep. LOL I'm glad 2022 is over and I hope 2023 will be much better ??.

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