iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 16/10/2026

Pretty dramatic skies here over Chestnut Hill in Philadelphia!

Dramatic dark sky with sunlight sky in the distance and houses with lights and Halloween decorations on in the foreground.

Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 08/10/2026

Snek! Not what I was expecting on my morning walk yesterday. (a sadly deceased Dekay's Brownsnake according to Seek, confirmed by someone on iNaturalist) #snake #philadelphia #snek

A photo of a small snake hiding in the crack between paving slabs on a footpath (sidewalk) in Philadelphia. It's coiled itself up in the gap and looks OK, but was still there later in the day without any apparent movement). It's a Dekay's Brownsnake.

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Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 05/10/2026

Should I be surprised that this is 666 seconds into Greg K-H's latest talk on Linux kernel security? youtu.be/NnV_cWeoo5Q?si=LKkFsquWXdP… His point is that kernel vulnerabilities are now (on average) being exploited 7 days before being reported. 😬 #linux #security #itsec

A slide from Greg K-H's latest Linux kernel security talk, where he gives a table of the mean time to exploit for kernel vulnerabilities. The table reads:

2018: 63 days
2020: 32 days
2024: 5 days
2026: -7 days

His point is now vulnerabilities are being exploited (on average) a week before they are reported...

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Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 04/10/2026

Sunflower with three bees hanging out this morning in the drizzle. #bloomscrolling #bees

Photo of a yellow sunflower with three bees hanging out together.

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Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 18/09/2026

^^^^ how it started attached - how it went (pure coincidence) #paleontology #dinosaurs

A photo of a T. Rex skeleton (casts from originals) looking right at the camera, jaws gaping. Photo taken at the Academy of Natural Sciences Museum in Philadelphia.

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Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 12/09/2026

“Oh my head!”, said Thomas, waking up after another heavy night. “Where am I this time? Wait, America? How on earth did I get here?” he pondered, through the fog, aches and nausea. A groan to his right startled him. “Henry! Oh no! What have I got you into? […] [Original post on mastodon.acm.org]

An image from the Strasburg railway, showing a morning dawn sky with railway wagons in the foreground and two railway engines made up to look like engines from the Thomas The Tank Engine railway books.

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Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 06/08/2026

Nostalgia - it's not as good as it used to be... A couple of years ago I found a really nice little quote in an article on nostalgia that claims that it doesn't date back to when we first started writing, but a little time after when we could look back at […] [Original post on mastodon.acm.org]

Screenshot of an article from The Slate, the text says:

So let’s just skip to the beginning—to Mesopotamia, when humanity began writing for the first time. Eckart Frahm, a professor of Assyriology at Yale University, says a curious trend shows up in the old cuneiform tablets: At the beginning of writing, around 3500 B.C., nobody pens anything nostalgic. But after about two centuries, as records pile up and scholars read what their ancestors wrote, that changes. “Then,” he says, “there is this idea that there must have been an age where things were really perfect.”

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Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 13/07/2026

RIP Sam Neill. Hope you've found John Clarke and are having a lark together. Photo is from a review of their film "Death in Brunswick": www.flicks.co.nz/features/kiwis-sam…

Still from the film "Death in Brunswick" showing John Clarke as the gravedigger Dave and Sam Neill as the cook Carl. They're in a pub playing darts.

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Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 12/07/2026

My lightning detector had a bit of a workout this afternoon - 297 strikes in 2 hours (1345-1545). We didn't get the worst of the storm either! #PAwx

A screenshot of an Ambient Weather report showing 297 lightning strikes, the last of which was about 6 hours ago and 14 miles distance.

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Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 28/06/2026

A bit late for #PhillyFriday (especially as I just invented it) but it was taken on Friday. 😇 #Philadelphia This is taken from near Suburban Station in the centre of the city, looking back towards the Philadelphia Art Museum / Museum of Art. I believe […] [Original post on mastodon.acm.org]

A photo showing the view from near Suburban Station in Philadelphia looking back towards the Art Museum (or Museum of Art, I've lost track). It shows trees, the year-round display of many flags (including the Welsh flag that you can just make out the head of the dragon) and the original Philly "LOVE" sign in the foreground.

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Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 15/06/2026

There's some slight discrepancy between the headline and the picture that I cannot quite put my finger on... 🤪 (on the serious side - props on the fact that there's not a single horned helmet in sight - that's a modern fable starting in the 1800s) Original […] [Original post on mastodon.acm.org]

A screenshot of an article from The Guardian where the title reads "Will Norway’s slick modern model succeed where the class of ’94 failed?" and the photo is of the Norwegian football team in full (authentic looking) Viking regalia with longships in the background.

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Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 14/05/2026

Crepuscular rays over Chestnut Hill in Philadelphia last night. #PAwx #photography

A photograph of crepuscular rays appearing to emerge from a cloud at bottom right.

A photograph giving a wider view of crepuscular rays over Philadelphia with a tree at bottom left and roofline along the bottom. The rays appear from a cloud at bottom right.

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Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 13/05/2026

Today 129 years ago (1897-05-13 UTC) Marconi sent his first ever radio message across open sea from Flat Holm(*) to Lavernock in South Wales. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 This little invention has come a long way since then! Map is from the National Library of Scotland's […] [Original post on mastodon.acm.org]

A screenshot of the National Library of Scotland's great maps website showing an old (late 1800s) Ordnance Survey map of the Bristol Channel in the UK with South Wales at the top including Lavernock Point, and the island of Flat Holm in the Bristol Channel beneath it.

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Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 10/05/2026

You can tell these are American eggs. If they were British they'd be Not Protectively Marked. (or at least that was the case when I worked in HMG decades ago) Sorry, I'll see myself out. #puns #classifications

A photo of an empty box of a dozen eggs sitting on a windowsill. The text reads:

Taproot Farm
Passion for food. Passion for sustainability.
Keep refridgerated. Sunshine eggs. Unclassified.

The pun in the post is about that last word and only makes sense if you understand protective markings / classifications.

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Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 13/04/2026

I wonder why there's a US military Eurocopter UH-72A Lakota helicopter circling over northern Philly (Elkins Park) right now?

Screenshot of the track of a US military helicopter (a Eurocopter UH-72A Lakota) circling over the Elkins Park area of Philadelphia for about an hour.

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Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 12/04/2026

Cherry blossom and a lot of tulips at Morris Arboretum near here today. Perfect weather for a stroll! #Bloomscrolling #philadelphia

A photo of a landscape with a cherry tree in full blossom in upper centre on a gently slope with a field of red, orange, yellow and white tulips closer to the camera.

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Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 29/03/2026

Ornamental cherry blossom on our street in Philadelphia just now. 🌸 #Bloomscrolling

A photo of a lot of beautiful pink cherry blossom against a blue sky.

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Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 02/03/2026

A little late I know, but Happy St David’s Day (1st March, the Welsh National Day). 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

A photograph of stump sunlit daffodils against a blue sky.

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Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 01/03/2026

Friday we went to the Philadelphia Flower Show and immersed ourselves in the smells and sights. #Bloomscrolling

A large sculpture of a cupped pair of hands holding a large array of flowers.

Photo of a display of plants and flowers trained on and behind a pergola set over a sofa.

Photo of a crowd of people standing sand looking at (and photographing) the entrance display at the Philadelphia Flower Show. It’s a big such of flowers and foliage.

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Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 28/02/2026

Had a mammoth amount of snow here recently. I'll see myself out. PS: thanks to PBS Eons for getting these mammoth figurines made! They are pretty fun. www.backerkit.com/c/projects/comple…

An adult and a baby mammoth go for a walk in the snow (OK, really the PBS Eons model mammoths, but you get the idea).

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Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 24/02/2026

Yeah definitely a fair bit of snow last night. ☃️ #PAwx

A photo of a car covered in about two feet of snow with a portion of it cleared to show how deep it is. There’s also a pair of windscreen wipers poking out in a comical fashion.

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Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 23/02/2026

I think it’s fair to say it’s snowing here in Philadelphia. #PAwx

A photo of a streetscape looking out into heavy snow with everything covered in snow.

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Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 14/02/2026

Strange things afoot in the world of rugby according the The Guardian. 😁 […] [Original post on mastodon.acm.org]

Screenshot of a segment of an article from The Guardian about Scotland playing England in rugby as part of the Six Nations. The text reads as follows:

3m ago 17.04 GMT

TRY! Scotland 17-7 Scotland (Arundell, 22)

It’s raining tries! Off the line-out it felt inevitable. England kept hammering
the line and hammering the line and hammering the line. Scottish defenders
were sucked in and then a slick dummy and pass from Ford made the space
for Arundell to his right. An easy conversion makes it a 10 point game.

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Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 28/01/2026

Glossika with some well timed advice for competitors at the Australian Open. 🎾 🇦🇺 #Welsh #Cymraeg

Screenshot of Glossika trying to teach me Welsh.

English: When you play tennis, you should always watch the ball.

Welsh: Pan fyddi di'n chwarae tennis, dylet ti wastad wylio'r bêl.

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Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 25/01/2026

An almost #SilentSunday, Germantown Avenue in Chestnut Hill in Philadelphia. Snow emergency route so the occasional car.

Photo of snow converted main street with bare trees and buildings. There’s overhead wires from the old tram system which no longer runs here.

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Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 20/01/2026

Looking around for #aurora cameras - unsurprisingly a lot are clouded/snowed out at the moment. 🤪 However, the Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center camera in Minnesota looks pretty interesting. scse.d.umn.edu/marshall-w-alworth-p…

Image from an all-sky camera based in Minnesota showing what appears to be an orangey auroral glow in the sky, and the edges of the circular image show the trees silhouetted against the glow.

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Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 01/01/2026

🎶 All is quiet on New Years Day 🎶 A world in white gets underway Have to admit this was not on my bingo card for today. Shovelled now! #NewYear #snow #PAwx #U2

A photo showing a view of a snow covered street, taken from a set of stairs looking down on the scene. The snow is largely undisturbed other than some footprints.

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Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 31/12/2025

Frosty has been on the turps again. ☃️ 🥂

A photo, allegedly of Frosty the snowman, face down on the grass with a little snow and ice around him, snoring loudly. He had a long night.

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Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 31/12/2025

@rand @ai6yr ouch! Glad you're both OK! Reminded me of when I lived in Australia and was in the back garden after a week of heavy rain to find a tree down across the full width garden, thankfully missing a glass table. Went back in the house to get a camera […] [Original post on mastodon.acm.org]

A photo taken looking down the length of two fallen gum (eucalyptus) trees lying across a garden and veggie patch. There are other trees visible, still standing, beyond them.

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Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 27/12/2025

Sleet followed by freezing rain overnight left everything coated in ice this morning. Had about 5-10mm on the footpath outside the house. Turns out that a rubber mallet is great for breaking it up first (but not on the car!). #PAwx

Photo of a car coated in a veneer of ice over this side windows, door and roof.

Photo of a footpath with the lower section clear and the top part covered in about 5-10mm of ice.

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Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 24/12/2025

@forbiddenunix.com my pleasure! Best of luck with this! Merry ${FESTIVAL} to you all too!

A photo of giant Christmas decorations hanging from trees outside a residence on a street with a thin dusting of snow.

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Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 23/12/2025

A little more snow around here today in Chestnut Hill. Won't last sadly. #PAwx

A photo of a street lined with trees and some very large Christmas glass ball decorations hanging from them. They are the street (and bushes behind) are covered in a thin layer of snow.

A photo of a tall tree and a stone house against a grey sky with a thin layer of snow on both.

A photo of the Chestnut Hill watertower, a circular stone built tower that used to have a large tank on top of it in days of yore to provide water under pressure to the area. These days it's preserved as a historic structure and has a small sign in front of it giving the history (not readable in the photo). It has trees to the right and a thin layer of snow lays around and about.

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Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 19/12/2025

Skies over Philly were a bit dramatic a few minutes ago. #PAwx

Photo of dramatic clouds against a blue sky with the city of Philadelphia in the distance and trees in the foreground.

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Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 14/12/2025

@ai6yr yikes, that's pretty scary. There's an ASN DB entry for the incident here: aviation-safety.net/wikibase/563563 You can also see what looks like to be the pilots evasion manoeuvre on the FR24 playback.

Screenshot of Flightradar 24 apparently showing an evasion manoeuvre by B61112 to avoid a mid-air collision with an aircraft with no transponder.

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Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 12/12/2025

Sundog over Philadelphia just after noon local time today. #PAwx

A photo showing the sun at top right and a sundog at top left with the city of Philadelphia spread out below it. The sundog is a patch of shimmering sky with rainbow colours and is caused by ice crystals high in the atmosphere.

Oh and there's a lot of high thin cloud in the photo too, which is why this is showing up.

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Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 30/11/2025

OK OK, so not quite a mastodon, but a mammoth day here today! 🙌 Thanks to the PBS Eons folks on their Patreon I'm now the custodians of two 1/18th scale models and a 1/35th scale model of mammoths! The project is on BackerKit […] [Original post on mastodon.acm.org]

A photo of a 1/35th scale model of an adult woolly mammoth walking right to left, with a painted diorama behind it showing some early horses running.

A photo of a pair of 1/18th scale models, one of an adult woolly mammoth and another of a calf walking left to right, dusted with snow. They're standing on a place mat on a table.

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Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 29/11/2025

Calling all palaeontologists - I think I’ve solved for once and for all why the non-avian dinosaurs went extinct!

Photo of a packaged toy in a store showing a 4x4 with oversized wheels about to run over a triceratops.

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Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 11/11/2025

Marisol's great grandfather also fought in World War 1, in the American Expeditionary Force. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for bravery and despite his wounds he refused to be evacuated until all wounded enlisted men had been evacuated first. #WW1 #ArmisticeDay #VeteransDay

A photograph of an American officer sitting in uniform in a studio, arms crossed, looking at the camera.

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Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 11/11/2025

Also remembering my late wife's grandfather who also served on the Western Front in WW1 as part of the ANZAC forces there and who stayed on after as part of the Commonwealth War Graves detachment to recover the remains of the fallen for proper burial. I […] [Original post on mastodon.acm.org]

A colour photograph of an elderly man with short hair and wearing a grey V kneck sweater.

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Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 11/11/2025

Today is Armistice Day - these are photos of my grandfather who was part of the BEF and served in France from 1916-1918 and thankfully returned home in 1919 with just a minor injury. Lest we forget.

Photo of a young private soldier in British WW1 military uniform. He's carrying a swagger stick and stands against a white background.

Aged and wrinkled sepia photograph of a private soldier in British WW1 uniform kneeling in what looks like a magnified part of a larger group photo, the leg of the soldiers to the right and behind him are visible.

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Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 02/11/2025

Out for a walk today and came across a few crocus in flower - apparently there are some that do flower in autumn! #bloomscrolling

A photo of a crocus in flower against a background of autumn leaves.

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Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 02/11/2025

Autumn colours from this mornings walk on the edge of Philadelphia.

A photo of bright red/orange leaves on an acer of some form, with blue sky in the background.

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Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 11/10/2025

A bit of aircraft history today - BA Concorde G-BOAB ("Alpha Bravo") at LHR, seen from inside AA737 taxiing from Terminal 3 to the runway to head back to Philly. #avgeek

Photo taken out of the window (from some distance) of the tail of Concorde G-BOAB showing the tail and registration number.

Photo taken out of the window (from some distance) of the nose of Concorde G-BOAB at LHR.

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Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 21/09/2025

The aircraft that did the flyover for the Eagles game today popped up again looking to be heading into the airport for the 177th Fighter Wing New Jersey Air National Guard, so presumably these were F-16C's. So Falcon's, not Eagles. Someone get whoever arranged this an ornithologist, stat. 😉 #avgeek

Screenshot of ADSB Exchange showing the aircraft that did the flyover apparently heading into the airport for the 177th Fighter Wing New Jersey Air National Guard.

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Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 21/09/2025

After a dozen or so flyovers here at ~2800 feet they headed off into the city at low level for the start of the Eagles game. Still no idea what aircraft they were. 🙂 #avgeek

Screenshot of ADSB Exchange showing military aircraft heading towards the Eagles game in the city for a flyover.

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Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 21/09/2025

Currently being buzzed in Chestnut Hill by a pair of military aircraft in close formation doing racetracks to the north of Philly. Presumably stooging around waiting for the time to do a flyover of the Eagles game today. Random hex ID so no ID. globe.adsbexchange.com/?icao=~27a10e

Screenshot of ADSB Exchange showing the flight path of a pair of military aircraft in close formation doing oval shape "racetracks" to the north of Philadelphia. Flying at (currently) 2,800 feet and 367 knots.

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Chris Samuel @chris-bloke.mastodon.acm.org.ap.brid.gy · 16/08/2025

I sense a theme to Glossika tonight, but I can't quite put my finger on it. Oh well, I think I'll stay in. #Welsh #Cymraeg 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Glossika trying to teach me Welsh.
English: He'd rather not go out tonight.
Welsh: Byddai'n well ganddo beidio â mynd allan heno.

Glossika trying to teach me Welsh:
English: Zhirong would prefer not to go out.
Welsh: Byddai'n well gan Zhirong beidio â mynd allan.

Glossika trying to teach me Welsh:
English: Jessica would rather not go out.
Welsh: Byddai'n well gan Jessica beidio â mynd allan.

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