“What we have found, they are there, they’re in the building and not in their chairs. They are in the cafeteria, with counselors, in stairwells or a variety of places, some legitimately and some not. If they are on campus, we can legally count them present.”

Source: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/09/rfid-chip-student-monitoring/

The above Wired article mentions further details:

"Gonzalez said John Jay High has 200 surveillance cameras and Anson Jones Middle School, about 90.

'The kids,' he said, 'are used to being monitored.'”

Other articles mentioned the school's attempt to broker a deal with the girl and her family, including this one at OpposingViews.com:

"Civil liberties lawyers at the Rutherford Institute told Infowars.com that they are going to file a temporary restraining order petition to prevent the school from kicking Hernandez out.

In response to public outcry and pressure from rights groups, John Jay High School has offered to remove the battery and chip, but wouldn’t budge on the ID.

The offer would also require the Hernandez family to end their public criticism and agree to support the policy, something Andrea’s father Steve Hernandez finds unacceptable."

Source: Article by OpposingViews.com at http://www.opposingviews.com/i/technology/gadgets/student-andrea-hernandez-expelled-refusing-wear-location-tracking-rfid-badge*

The OpposingViews.com article also mentions that Hernandez opposes the program on grounds of both privacy and religion.

Here are some other links to coverage of the subject, both in the U.S. and the U.K.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20461752

http://now.msn.com/andrea-hernandez-suspended-for-refusing-to-wear-an-rfid-locator-tag-can-stay-at-school-until-court-hearing

http://www.zdnet.com/student-expelled-for-refusing-to-wear-rfid-tracking-chip-badge-7000007723/

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/11/texas-school-districts-rfid-tracking-of-students-goes-to-court/

http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/13463095-student-tracker-project-in-texas-schools-leads-to-court-row

http://rt.com/usa/news/school-hernandez-rfid-student-449/

http://www.goddiscussion.com/104442/high-school-student-faces-expulsion-for-refusal-to-wear-device-she-believes-is-satanic/

Details mentioned in some of them include the plans in Texas to spread the mandatory RDIF program statewide.

I've done my best to provide ones from sites with various political leanings and editorial foci because:

• 1) I feel that it's helpful to read several articles on a subject to get a sense for what is actually going on.
• 2) I do not believe that this is an issue limited to either conservatives or liberals in the United States.

It is my personal opinion (though it is only my opinion and not a fact, and should be debated if disagreed with) that this program:

• 1) Should never have been implemented.
• 2) Does not serve the students or parents.
• 3) Will rarely benefit teachers.
• 4) May benefit school administrations financially.
• 5) Is disturbing in its approach to tracking U.S. citizens that have neither committed a crime nor found themselves the subject of a criminal investigation.
• 6) Violates the rights of the parents to grant or deny their consent to a controversial school measure.
• 7) Violates the spirit of the Constitution, whether or not it violates the exact wording of it (and may potentially violate both).

That's at least one part of my opinion. I hope you'll share this issue with others you know. If you disagree with me, I would still like to hear your thoughts. I hope that I can learn from seeing the issue through someone else's eyes.

1) We need interview guests! One of the series is called “High Scoring”. This is going to feature interviews with game and film scoring composers talking about the history and craft of scoring. Far from the usual discussion emphasizing creative process or tools or “industry realities”, these interviews will actually look at musical influences and changes in scoring approach over time. The continuity of composing for media. Following this discussion, the audience will also have chance to participate in a Q & A.

Several people have already volunteered to be guests and all I can say is “thank you!” for your desire to both help the arts and to help expand the perception of what we do as composers. It is my hope that the series will help both help to give a sense to the greater public of the history of what we do (in much the same way that music history classes do for classical composition) while providing a unique perspective to those of us already in the scoring community. Admission should be only a little more than the price of a movie ticket.

2) You can come to one the interviews, lectures or classes. It currently looks like they will be held in North Hollywood and tickets will likely be $15 to $25 depending on the event.

3) You can help us gauge interest in terms of the potential classes and the best schedule (for instance, would weekday evening or weekend evening classes be better?)

Here are some likely candidates (but feel free to suggest your own): - “High Scoring” The History and Culture of Film & VG Scoring - Supporting Your Child’s Creativity - Intro to Photography and Video - Composing and Producing - How To Communicate Better With Your Clients and Customers - Cultivating Creativity - Developing Expertise: The Keys to Learning Effectively

4) We will be launching a YouTube series in conjunction with “High Scoring” and possibly other courses as well. That means if you want to donate time or labor to any of the related areas (recording, filming, editing) it will be greatly appreciated. The more help we get, the more content we can create in a short period of time and the more attention we can bring to our craft.

5) We will need to get word of mouth out! Even if you can’t help directly or attend in person, chances are you know someone that would want to come to the seminars or classes or at least would want to watch the videos.

Anyway, this is something that I’ve been laying the groundwork for a long time and we only recently found a good venue for it. So I hope you’ll support us in making it happen any way that you can. I feel like we can really help make a difference, both for our peers and for the children that will soon be following in our footsteps.

So if you’re interested, please PM me or e-mail me at per@perlichtman.com. Thank you.

http://perlichtman.tumblr.com/post/69311146740/support-the-arts-for-the-price-of-a-movie-ticket

Many people following this thread - http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/1937/finding-face-exposure-on-gh2#Item_51 - have heard me talk about the 4 stop (technically 5-stop) "Target Range" (or Target Zone) for DSLRs in which you should expose your scene to get clean images that grade exceptionally well with plenty of detail in the blacks and highlights.

But I've received so many questions about what exactly I mean by "the zone system" that I put this video together to demonstrate what I mean and why.

While I only touch very briefly on the actual Ansel Adams Zone System, which is way more complicated than explained herein, if you light and expose your scene using this "zone" technique, you'll never worry about macro-blocking, noisy blacks, or blown out highlights again.

...And you'll be able to grade the living hell out of the footage.

https://www.coursera.org/course/digitalsounddesign

"Sounds and music are embedded in almost every aspect of daily life. This course will provide an overview of the fundamental principles of sound and the factors that determine our audio perception. It will also explore techniques of recording, mixing, processing, synthesis, sampling, analysis, and editing of digital audio."

Sounds interesting and I bet it would be helpful for filmmakers. I'm signing up. Starts today - 1/08/2013.