- Google Wave’s real-time collaborative editing and automatic history preservation was discussed as a potentially useful tool for distributed open-source hardware development; a demo video at 33:30 in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_UyVmITiYQ was referenced.  
- Henry Markram’s claim that AI must capture “11 billion years of evolutionary intelligence” was challenged, noting Earth’s age is only ~4.5 billion years, prompting debate on how much prior evolution is actually relevant to artificial cognition.  
- A San José Tech Museum exhibit was described where visitors perform hands-on bacterial transformation with GFP plasmids and E. coli, framed as an accessible entry point for DIY-bio experimentation.  
- SKDB commit logs show iterative refinement of geometric transform code (gp_Trsf.SetValues, build_trsf tests, interface coordinate fixes) aimed at enabling automated mechanical-assembly generation from open hardware part libraries.  
- Complaints about DRM-locked, Linux-incompatible university e-textbooks sparked discussion of circumventing restrictions and the broader need for open educational resources in technical fields.  
- Surfboard composite-fabrication techniques were highlighted as a practical prerequisite for learning to build spacecraft fuel tanks and airframes, underscoring the value of low-cost, open composites knowledge.  
- Viral marketing for the 2012 disaster movie (Institute for Human Continuity website and History Channel ads) was identified and mocked, with tongue-in-cheek suggestions to “make a vaccine” against the meme.  
- Routine lab work—Nanodrop spectrophotometry for DNA/RNA quantification, cell culture, plasmid prep, and PCR—was noted as ongoing background activity among channel participants.