- A user’s attempt to install R on Debian led to cascading system failures: KDE crashed, dpkg scripts broke, and the package database was only salvaged via /var/backup/dpkg.status.0.  
- The channel discussed nanopore DNA sequencing, with kanzure updating a personal wiki page and the Wikipedia article on the topic, and contrasting cyclodextrin-based pores with the more common nanopore current-measurement approach.  
- Google’s April Fools’ “CADIE” (an AI tasked-array system) was dissected; participants noted its panda-themed marketing and debated the effectiveness of April 1st pranks.  
- fenn outlined plans for a head-mounted wearable computer using a BeagleBoard/Gumstix plus accelerometers, RFID, and a cord-pull generator, emphasizing the need for distributed sensors rather than a single fanny-pack hub.  
- SparkFun’s tiny GPS receiver (4800 bps NMEA output) was cited as evidence that “we might actually be living in the future.”  
- Practical DIY health-monitoring ideas were floated: inexpensive at-home tests include weight, pulse, urine pH, blood glucose, and—given a microscope—urine or saliva microscopy.  
- kanzure requested reminders to document a toolchain combining ElmerFEM, Gmsh, FreeFem++, Gerris, Netgen, TetGen, Triangle, and R for computational biology workflows.