• Zach Smith (Thingiverse’s sole programmer) expressed interest in collaborating on open-source packaging formats and is willing to share CC-licensed design data for further metadata enrichment.  
• The channel discussed using SKDB (a dependency-analysis tool) to determine whether a given collection of parts can self-assemble, highlighting the need for explicit machine-readable assembly instructions rather than just pictorial steps.  
• Genehacker proposed testing LEGO sets to find a minimal subset of parts capable of grasping, connecting and disconnecting other LEGO elements—an experiment in mechanical self-replication.  
• MLCad and the LDraw toolchain were identified as existing software that can generate step-by-step pictorial instructions from LEGO CAD models, providing a starting point for formalizing assembly data.  
• A long Google Groups thread on “recipe representation” in open manufacturing was referenced as prior art for encoding fabrication and assembly workflows in structured formats (XML/YAML).  
• Samrose reported progress on mirroring SKDB’s backend using Python tools (Mercurial, Hatta wiki) and expressed interest in coordinating with Zach to create a unified web interface for open hardware.  
• Fenn’s multi-year guinea-pig-style life-log dataset was examined as a case study in consistent categorical tagging for longitudinal self-tracking; limitations in capturing novel activities and physiological states were noted.  
• The group briefly debated post-scarcity economics, mentioning Whuffie (reputation currency) and Bitcoin as alternative value systems, alongside the practicality of abundant terrestrial solar energy.