• The Institute for the Future convened a high-profile “open fabrication” workshop on 1 March 2011 with Mark Frauenfelder, David Brin, Bunnie Huang, Bre Pettis, Eric Wilhelm and Autodesk’s Jeff Kowalski, signalling mainstream momentum behind open-source hardware.

• SKDB (“apt-get for hardware”) was demonstrated with its working skdb-get.py client; participants explored extending package-manager semantics to physical goods by adding dynamic cost/quality weighting (time vs. money vs. durability) and integrating real-time Octopart pricing.

• A $25 “light-bulb PCR” thermocycler design by Russell Durrett was circulated as an exemplar of ultra-low-cost open biotech hardware, accompanied by a Vimeo demo video.

• The new community site biohack.me and its IRC channel #biohack were launched to coordinate grinder/body-mod projects such as neodymium finger magnets and “southpaw” sensory extensions, prompting debate on safety and media portrayal after the Wired profile of DIY transhumanist Lepht Anonym.

• Pranav Mistry’s open-source SixthSense wearable gesture interface was highlighted as an accessible AR platform for physical-world interaction.

• A “basecamp for manufacturing” web application was proposed: a hosted, open-source project-management system that ingests SKDB packages, allocates resources, reads inventory, and schedules human labor to meet build windows.

• FrontAccounting, an open-source ERP/MRP suite (GPLv3, PHP/MySQL), was evaluated for tracking bills of materials, kits, inventory and triggering reorders, with live demos and schema discussion shared.

• RepRap production logistics were discussed: jebba is bootstrapping kit sourcing and assembly with Kai Staats, while kanzure suggested distributing assembly tasks via an SMS-based “project projector” web app.

• Links to current research included a Nature paper on X-ray crystal structures of general anesthetics bound to pentameric ion channels, a low-cost gel-filtration chromatography protocol, and Harvard’s optogenetic “worm control” demo featured on the Colbert Lab site.