• Wyolum announced a 2012 open-hardware micro-grant program offering two $1 k and four $250 awards; skorket floated the idea of a collaborative application to offset prototype costs.  
• kanzure shared a one-line SSH/tar command for live remote backups: `ssh user@host -p18765 "tar zcvf - ." > backup.tar`, prompting discussion of gzip extensions, permission errors, and correct flag order.  
• Hardware shopping dominated the day: jrayhawk recommended HP EliteBook Gen 6 (up to 32 GB RAM) and Lenovo W530/W520 for high-RAM laptops, while kanzure weighed a 16 GB Samsung 700G7C and a $4 k System76 desktop build.  
• Display ergonomics were debated: nmz787 sought an inexpensive IPS panel with pivot/landscape–portrait rotation; jrayhawk suggested VESA mounts and Ergotron stands as flexible, low-cost solutions.  
• A lighthearted thread imagined a “Gene Hunter” TV series starring Craig Venter, spoofing Steve Irwin’s style with giant gel-electrophoresis demos and plush “Bryan Bishop” merchandise.  
• jrayhawk vented about modern web video, calling YouTube’s HTML5 and Flash players “amazingly awful” compared to legacy RealPlayer’s robust buffering and retry logic.