- Transparent ferrofluids were discussed as a possible interface material; fenn noted that transparent ferroelectric fluids exist but require kilovolt-level voltages to produce any useful tactile effects.  
- A “roboscope” project is underway: Mac Cowell is building a microscope that live-streams its view to iPhones/iPads in the same room; David Nunez is handling the video pipeline.  
- The roboscope team is wrestling with H.264 compression latency; kanzure worries about multiple tablets drifting out of sync and suggests either forcing global synchronization or accepting a 1–2 s lead from the microscope.  
- A collection of streaming links was shared to help solve the latency problem: Apple’s HTTP Live Streaming docs, Columbia’s RTSP server, ZumoCast, inmethod’s Air Video, Android’s VideoView class, and StackOverflow threads on RTSP clients.  
- fenn recommended the PlayStation Eye webcam as a low-lag camera option for similar real-time imaging tasks.  
- kanzure mocked a DIYgenomics publicity photo that pairs a wrench with a petri dish, calling it “silly” and implying it was staged.  
- Utopiah posted a link to an 11.7 T ultra-high-field human MRI system from Bruker BioSpin, highlighting cutting-edge imaging hardware.  
- kanzure announced “Remade: Rebirth of the Maker Movement,” a forthcoming documentary on American hackerspaces and the maker scene, and expressed skepticism about its depth.  
- A brief side discussion covered OpenOffice’s codebase (not Java) and Japan’s apparent cultural fascination with industrial hoists (kito.co.jp product line).