- An open-source pick-and-place machine project was announced at opencapitalist.org; the 4-axis hardware and controller are reportedly functional, software is written in LabWindows, and the author intends to release it under an open-source license.

- DIY EEG hardware discussion centered on the Emotiv EPOC headset: raw capture scripts (emotiv.py, emotiv_hid.py) were shared, revealing that the device uses Bluetooth HID and may encrypt its data stream via a dsPIC33FJ64GP206 microcontroller.

- Experiments with FreeFEM for 2-D compliant-mechanism shape optimization were described; users currently hand-code mesh boundaries and expressed interest in future STEP file import and GUI integration.

- The OpenPCR project came under scrutiny: its Kickstarter backer list was scraped and shared, the GitHub repo lacks build files and an explicit open-source license, and a mirror of the project files was located at abundancestudies.org.

- Randal Koene’s “Realistic Routes to Substrate Independent Minds” talk was held in the Croquet-based virtual world Teleplace, with logs and notes posted at http://fabien.benetou.fr/Events/TeleXLR8-01.

- H+ Magazine’s ownership transition was noted: James Hughes is transferring control to the Humanity+ board, prompting debate over editorial tone and the influence of R. U. Sirius.

- Community commentary on nootropics (Provigil, etc.) was linked from a Hacker News thread and compared to earlier Reddit discussions, highlighting ongoing DIY cognitive-enhancement discourse.

- The WISE infrared-sky-survey project was highlighted via a YouTube video and a Slashdot comment from a participating graduate student, serving as an example of citizen-accessible space-science data.

- A Lichtenstein-style “OMG I missed the Singularity” ad was traced to Roy Lichtenstein’s “Drowning Girl,” with possible remix by R. U. Sirius and image hosted at Boing Boing, illustrating meme culture in transhumanist media.

- General tooling links shared included an open-source manufacturing definition outline at spi.stewdle.com, tree-difference algorithms for document-structure comparison, and requests for pH-meter recommendations for citizen-science use.