- A Yale ModelDB link was shared for a “Basal-ganglia–thalamocortical loop model of action selection,” a computational neuroscience resource.  
- Discussion of DIY biology included plans for home PCR and gel electrophoresis; safety cautions against ethidium bromide and suggestions for commercial alternatives like Sybr-Gold were exchanged.  
- A simple open-source thermocycler design (thermocycler.pdf) and the idea of building small centrifuges from computer-case fans or blender motors were circulated.  
- Ponoko.com was highlighted as a web-to-mail laser-cutting service that turns uploaded CAD files into metal parts, prompting questions about achievable resolution.  
- The repository of product-design graphs was critiqued: three intended graph types (assembly, CFG, function-structure) were described, but the data lacked explicit links between components, making automated generation of clean “black-box” diagrams difficult.  
- A 16 000-pixel-wide auto-generated CFG image (78_CFG.png) was shown alongside a hand-drawn “function structure” example (supermax hair dryer.png) to illustrate the gap between raw data and usable design documentation.  
- Employment chatter covered an Indiana University biology-IT job posting; participants debated whether a CS degree is necessary for sysadmin roles and reviewed practical skills (RAID, LVM, NFS, scripting).  
- A side thread explored using LVM or similar kernel-level tools to create a mountable, self-describing index for personal DVD archives, avoiding manual spreadsheet maintenance.  
- Media commentary noted that ACDC’s Walmart-exclusive album leaked to BitTorrent 10 days early, reinforcing the view that release dates now coincide with torrent availability.