A regular summary of irregular news and notes from neighborhood blogs and email lists around the District.

Favorite Neighbor: A member of the Palisades Citizens Association email list dispensed some questionable advice to prevent future break-ins. She wrote, “Put your car keys beside your bed at night. If you hear a noise outside your home or someone trying to get in your house, just press the panic button for your car. It’s a security alarm system that you probably already have and requires no installation. The alarm will be set off, and the horn will continue to sound until either you turn it off or the car battery dies. After a few seconds all the neighbours will be looking out their windows to see who is out there and sure enough the criminal won’t want that.” While this system might work, you will probably just be known as the paranoid neighbor who is constantly setting off their car alarm.

Technologically Stunted: There are a lot of technology experts out there, but this one might be difficult to find. A member of a Chevy Chase email list posted, “We installed Skype on our two computers, my husband and I, and it worked very well for quite a while, We could see (and hear) our grandchildren and they could see us even though they live far away in France. But we must have done something wrong or changed a connection and we do not seem to be able to connect anymore. Could someone help us reestablish contact?” A Skype expert is, according to the member, known as anyone under the age of 30. Insofar, no one has suggested that the couple call their Internet service provider.

Rogue Rabbit: A bunny is on the loose on Kansas Avenue and was spotted by a member of a Petworth email list. “I saw a rabbit near my home that looks like someone’s much-loved pet. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get to it, but I will be happy to pass on details to the owner.” How does one tell if a rabbit is a pet or in the natural habitat?

Outdated Music Gear for Sale: A number of residents of Cleveland Park are purging their musical belongings and are giving away cassettes, speakers, and vinyl records. Three separate members of the email list are departing with these items that some may call outdated. One member wrote, “Like many people born before 1985, we have a large collection of cassette tapes of our favorite music from over the decades. We can now find almost all of this online to download to iTunes, etc. Some we never want to hear again and don’t want to be reminded of! Does anyone know who might be collecting such things for historic or “vintage” collections, reycling or any other purpose?” Perhaps they overlooked the resurgent trend of cassettes.