- The BUG modular open-source gadget platform (bugcommunity.com/wiki) was discussed; participants worried that its Java SDK and mandatory “BUGnet” login create a walled-garden feel despite the hardware being open-source.  
- FIRST Robotics was criticized for forcing teams to use proprietary compilers and $500 kits, with a suggestion that true innovation would come from letting teams spend the money however they like—even if it means building two cheaper, better robots.  
- A debate on OpenWetWare’s stance toward business surfaced after Russell’s claim that “businesses aren’t interested in open and wet”; participants countered that Codon Devices and the BioBricks movement explicitly bet on open biological parts.  
- Information-management interfaces were brainstormed: semantic-zooming desktops, conformal-grid transforms for head-tracked navigation, floor-sized displays viewed while hanging from the ceiling, and Engelbart-style multi-screen “Matrix” setups to maximize usable pixels and maintain flow state.  
- Distractions that break deep-work “mode” were catalogued: unpredictable sharp noises, human faces (even in images), and uncertainty about next steps; experiments were proposed to quantify the effect of flashing random faces during coding sessions.  
- A 100 GB MEMS cantilever storage chip by Nanochip (polarization-based, promised for 2010) was noted as a near-term high-density memory technology.  
- Publication opportunity: R. U. Sirius offered a 600–1 000-word article slot in his new magazine for a dense-yet-accessible explanation of SKDB and the “Open Source Party / Revolution Party” concept.  
- Two research papers were linked: “A programming model for automated decomposition on heterogeneous clusters of microprocessors” (Peisert & Baden) and the WINGS scientific-workflow system paper (Gil et al., 10.1109/E-SCIENCE.2007.72).