• The SynBio Axlr8r accelerator (synbioaxlr8r.com) is offering either $30 k or $300 k in synthetic-biology funding, prompting debate over what qualifies as a “worthwhile product” and advocacy for fully open-source WebRTC telepresence instead of proprietary tools like Google Hangouts for remote participation.

• Hardware discussion centered on the triple-core NXP LPC4370 MCU (80 MSPS ADC, 282 kB SRAM, no on-chip flash, 8 Mbit external SPI flash) versus STM32F4/F429 (2 MB on-chip flash, 8 MB external SRAM), weighing trade-offs for RAM-hungry firmware such as eLua and the need for USB 2.0 high-speed (480 Mbps) capability.

• Participants explored SPI/QSPI RAM and FRAM (e.g., 128 Mbit Winbond chip) as low-pin-count, inexpensive memory expansion options for MCU projects, alongside practical notes on running open-source LabTool firmware on LPC-Link2, using DMA for 80 MSPS data acquisition, and interfacing Ethernet PHYs for networking.

• The 2014 iGEM Community Labs track (http://2014.igem.org/Tracks/Community_Labs) was highlighted as a potential avenue for non-university-affiliated teams, with discussion on whether principal investigators must hold university affiliations and appreciation expressed for university library access to paywalled research papers.

• Outsourcing economics were briefly examined, noting freelance developers in India, Pakistan, and Nepal quoting $20/hr versus a San Francisco developer undercutting at $18/hr, prompting advice to avoid competing on price, while Reddit’s ban of r/DarkNetMarkets was noted as a warning of stricter moderation in related communities.