• A public release of Ashkenazi 23andMe v3 genotype data was circulated (originally via RapidShare, then mirrored to diyhpl.us/~bryan/irc/23andme/) and discussed on Gene Expression; participants noted the limitations of raw SNP dumps for meaningful phenotype inference.

• Archived Allen Institute human-cortex gene-expression datasets and accompanying Perl scrapers (extract_gene_ID_names.pl, extract_specimen_ID_numbers.pl, get_XML.pl) were rediscovered and linked from heybryan.org/docs/humancortex/.

• A UCLA medical-app competition offering only a $3 k prize was dismissed as “30 hours of mediocre work” and a mere “creative-idea contest” with no requirement for actual development; some members expressed interest in UI work if a serious team emerged.

• Contract-programming economics were debated: typical salaried rates ~$50/h, independent consultants often $100+/h, but with higher overhead, irregular work, and tax/accounting burdens; networking and reputation were highlighted as critical for finding contracts.

• Industrial-control security made the radar after a US-CERT advisory on a serious ActiveX flaw in ICONICS SCADA software; anecdotal evidence of covert “shadow” plant networks surfaced, and links to process-control architecture resources (xpca.org) and retro-space Lego designs (neoclassicspace.com) were shared.