Another Jen * 2547

#3GoodThings #ThreeGoodThings

A weekend visit from a dear friend;

The cats' first time back outdoors in about 2 months;

The humans' first time having a meal al fresco in about 3 1/2 months.

In the "post the info you want to read" department:

Once upon a time, a bat sanctuary cared for a 33 year old flying fox, who couldn't fly on his own anymore. So the people there lifted him up and carried him around so he could flap his wings.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRnlUUvCTTs

#baturday

NPR's piece today about screen time is framed as being about helping kids experience the real world, but it also applies for anyone trying to get away from doomscrolling.

https://www.npr.org/2026/03/06/nx-s1-5737901/dopamine-kids-parenting-screens

This week from the Internet of Insecure Things: someone trying to figure out how to use a game controller to drive his robot vacuum around found himself with access to data from thousands of vacuums: live camera feeds, audio, home maps, IP addresses, etc.

https://www.popsci.com/technology/robot-vacuum-army/

#IoIT
#InternetOfInsecureThings

#3GoodThings #ThreeGoodThings

Boneheaded stubbornness, used for good;

Outdoor lighting;

Sledding! After sunset sledding!

(Sledding, with my sweetie, for what was likely the first time in a decade. We got a foot of snow last night, but $#@! Zoom meant that I got stuck in work meetings anyway. A half hour before sunset we decided that it was worth investigating whether the local sledding hill was lit at night. Woot!)

Opinion piece in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Saturday Feb 1, by Jane Esberg: "I am a scholar of authoritarian politics at the University of Pennsylvania. I research and teach about repression and censorship. The Trump administration is engaged in state terror. And, in a page ripped from the autocrat’s playbook, they are trying to convince us that the victims deserve it." https://share.inquirer.com/69h1dM #USPol #PhiladelphiaInquirer

#3GoodThings #ThreeGoodThings from yesterday: Made it to my bluegrass jam, even though I didn't have use of a car; Supportive folks who let me recover after a fumble with my first-ever attempt to lead a song at a jam. ("'She'll be coming round the mountain' oh wait not supposed to sing and solo at the same time...") Happy double-takes received when I started having fun with the lyrics in real- time the way I want to be able to with the tune. ("She'll be walking through the snow pack / Wishing she had brought a six-pack / She'll be walking through the snow pack when she comes! ") And PSA: please keep your sidewalks shoveled, if you can. You never know when someone new to the neighborhood will be trudging from the train station with a mandolin case on her back. #mandolin #WinterCommuting