It’s “Claw and Order.”
An annoying Zoom filter turned a Texas lawyer into a guardian for an annoying Zoom filter during a virtual court hearing, leaving the rest of the participants in a call a stifling laugh as the judge tried to pass him off as a solution.
“I’m here live. I’m not a cat, ”confused lawyer Rod Ponton, confused, like a lost kitten in a short video of the accidental species exchange, though his Zoom panel said otherwise, portraying him as a adorable blue-eyed kitten.
The 42-second clip was tweeted Tuesday by Judge Roy Ferguson, along with some helpful technical advice.
“IMPORTANT TIP: If a child was using the computer, before joining a virtual audience, check the video zoom options to make sure the filters are turned off.” wrote Ferguson, of the 394th Judicial District Court of Texas, which includes the counties of Brewster, Culberson, Jeff Davis, Hudspeth and Presidio. “This kitten just made a formal announcement about a case at 394.”
The clip begins with Ponton already depicting a cat, and Ferguson tried to fix the problem.
“I think you have a filter enabled in the video settings,” Ferguson said. “You may want to take a look.”
The bewildered “feline” assured Ferguson that his team was trying to remove the filter, but that he was willing to continue the case with or without mustaches.
“I do not know how to get rid of it. I have my assistant here, she is trying. But I’m ready to move on, “said Ponton. “I’m here live. I’m not a cat. “
The judge thanked Ponton who clarified that, in fact, he was still a human being.
“I can … I can see that,” Ferguson said.
The juror then continued to try to cross Ponton through the problem, but the clip was cut before the snafu was resolved.
Virtual video conferencing has become a part of the daily lives of many around the world since it suffered from the coronavirus pandemic, which often entails embarrassing technical difficulties or unsolicited visions of people’s personal lives.
Last week New Hampshire lawmakers were ordered to keep their animals out of the room during Zoom’s legislative calls, although it was not immediately known if the poles were also banned from becoming themselves.