- A Bay-Area meetup called “Happy Cortex” (http://happycortex.com/) was promoted as a gathering for neuro-tech enthusiasts.  
- Linaro (http://www.linaro.org/) was noted as a new industry/open-source collaboration to standardize Linux tool-chains and reduce fragmentation for ARM-based devices.  
- LoggingIt.com and Your.FlowingData.com were critiqued for relying on manual data entry; participants argued that automated sensors should output to open formats like CSV rather than proprietary web dashboards.  
- A debate arose over the value of small vs. bulk data, with one participant asserting that even single formulas (e.g., f = ma) count as “data,” while others insisted actionable insight requires large datasets.  
- The New Scientist article “Rise of the Replicators” (http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20627621.200-rise-of-the-replicators.html) was circulated, covering the expanding impact of open-source 3-D printing and self-replicating machines.  
- MesaNet industrial motion-control electronics (http://mesanet.com) were discussed as part of an ongoing group hardware purchase for robotics projects.  
- A PLoS ONE paper on full-body ownership illusions in virtual reality (http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0010564) was shared, with commentary that even coarse tactile feedback (e.g., simple skin buzzers) can significantly increase immersion when synchronized with visual cues.  
- Freebase Gridworks (now OpenRefine) was introduced as a tool for cleaning and reconciling messy, heterogeneous datasets without prior knowledge of their structure (http://blog.freebase.com/2010/03/26/preview-freebase-gridworks/).