- FabFi mesh-networking project in Afghanistan is documented at fablab.af; participants are frustrated that the only “CAD files” released are PNG images and a messy DXF instead of editable, constraint-capturing formats such as SVG.  
- Discussion of open-source CAD alternatives: ybit lists Archimedes (2-D), gcad3d, BRL-CAD, Varkon, and Sced; questions are raised about GPL compatibility when projects like FreeCAD and SKDB depend on the non-GPL OpenCASCADE (OCC) kernel.  
- kanzure is debugging Python-OCC code that converts polygon meshes into boundary-representation (B-rep) solids; he observes that object-oriented wrappers sometimes double the point count and is experimenting with TopoDS_Vertex, BRep_Tool, and WireExplorer to fix the discrepancy.  
- A segfault is traced to passing an uninitialized TopoDS_Vertex to BRep_Tool.Pnt(); fenn explains that the handle points to nothing, causing access to random memory.  
- kanzure commits several SKDB changes: surface-approximation code is refactored to an OO style, unit tests are added, and he debates whether to treat inputs as pure point clouds or to exploit existing face information.  
- Paul Rothemund’s DNA-origami talk at Caltech is announced; kanzure shares a direct link to his collected papers (http://heybryan.org/books/papers/rothemund/).  
- MIT Fab Lab blog photos show a “Kenny and Amy’s ShopBot install kit” BOM printed on paper and taped to a wall—praised as a rare, almost-useful example of hardware documentation.  
- IEEE’s 125th-birthday event at UT Austin is mocked for offering “free pizza for the first 30 attendees who give product suggestions,” highlighting skepticism about corporate outreach.  
- Casual banter covers Windows newline headaches, Windows 7’s 20-hour install time, and the irony of Afghan Fab Lab students struggling with basic CNC concepts while local militants reportedly machine precision copper shaped-charges for IEDs.