- Google released Gumbo, a pure-C HTML5 parser with Python bindings, potentially useful for scraping or sanitizing web content in bioinformatics pipelines.  
- Discussion of open-source lab protocols: a participant asked whether the buffer recipes posted on OpenWetWare (Qiagen Buffers page) are trustworthy for DIY biology work.  
- Capacitance-based sensing explored as a method for measuring liquid density; the BeerBug digital hydrometer Kickstarter was cited as an example that uses capacitance between two electrodes to infer specific gravity.  
- ThomasEgi outlined practical approaches to capacitance measurement—ranging from simple RC discharge timing for µF-range values to AC bridge and frequency-response techniques for pF-range values—highlighting parasitic capacitance as a major challenge at small scales.  
- Chris_99 linked to a one-second capacitance-meter design and a MEMS white-paper describing a silicon-microtube density/specific-gravity meter, illustrating alternative hardware paths for precise fluid sensing.  
- Heath shared Google’s gumbo-parser repo, a CLI stats tool “st,” and dygraphs (via a “git-pissed” project), showing ongoing curation of lightweight open-source utilities for data analysis and visualization.  
- Yashgaroth reported that the Genomikon synthetic-biology presentation was “underwhelming,” mentioned forming an LLC on the down-low, and noted an opportunity to salvage an 1980s FPLC rig from a lab clean-out.  
- A Tumblr post announcing a new transhumanist meetup was shared, prompting tongue-in-cheek commentary about the stereotypical image of transhumanists “loafing around.”