- A low-cost DNA microarray concept was proposed: instead of flipping wells, glue a grid of walls on top of a glass slide to create a 96-well plate capable of holding up to 1.5 million 20-µm oligo spots per well, yielding ~144 million unique oligos per plate.  
- Surface-wetting challenges for inkjet deposition were discussed; ideas included chemical vapor deposition or pillar/etching processes to control droplet splash and contamination.  
- The group debated scope-creep for an open-source DNA synthesizer, warning that adding cell incubation, PCR, sequencing, and transformation modules drastically lowers success probability.  
- CaptHindsight emphasized modular lab automation: treat the inkjet printer as one station in a conveyor/rotary-table line and design sample-tray geometry to match downstream thermocycler or pipetting hardware.  
- kanzure listed >100 possible PCR thermocycler variants (laser, Peltier grid, lightbulb, open-flame, etc.) and noted that tray shape must be compatible with the chosen method.  
- A 2008 Science paper on complete chemical synthesis and cloning of the Mycoplasma genitalium genome (400 kbp from ~5 000 oligos via hierarchical assembly in E. coli) was cited as proof-of-concept for large-scale DNA construction.  
- Concerns over IPv4 exhaustion (ARIN projected depletion on 27 July 2015) and djb’s 2002 critique of IPv6 incompatibility were shared, highlighting long-standing network-transition issues.  
- Vault (https://vaultproject.io) was introduced as a unified, audited secrets-management tool for API keys, passwords, and certificates in modern computing.  
- A home-built scanning-tunneling-microscope electronics guide (http://dberard.com/home-built-stm/electronics/) was linked, with anecdotal confirmation that open-air STMs are feasible to DIY.  
- Discussion of productivity culture: kanzure argued that cutting off IRC access to “become productive” is counter-productive, since the most productive collaborators are found in technical channels like ##hplusroadmap.