- A proposed “136-component ontology” for mechanical design—where each design is encoded as a 136-bit presence/absence vector plus an adjacency matrix—was criticized as an unworkable attempt to create a universal parts taxonomy; the list includes items such as “brusher,” “nozzle,” “carousel,” and “diode.”  
- Emachineshop’s process catalog was examined as a potential “complete” fab-lab inventory, but it was noted to omit tools like vinyl cutters.  
- The group discussed open repositories of design knowledge, sharing links to “Case Studies in the Use of Design Repositories in Mechanical Engineering” and “A Port Ontology for Conceptual Design of Systems.”  
- genehacker announced an intention to experiment with transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS) and asked for practical advice on attaching 35 cm² electrodes to the scalp without shaving; commercial gear from Magstim was referenced.  
- kanzure floated the idea of a kitchen-island refrigerator with a sliding-top and internal sliding trays to let a robotic arm retrieve standardized meals, minimizing cold-air loss.  
- A whimsical tangent imagined a Ruby script that, once perfected, deploys nanites and androids to renovate a decaying house—an allegory for obsessive human-computer symbiosis.  
- Practical electronics talk covered the disappearance of xmms from Debian repositories, the inadequacy of audacious as a replacement, and the lack of high-quality electronic-surplus stores outside San Diego, Tokyo, and Shenzhen.