• “Chaff bugs” paper (arXiv:1808.00659) proposes deterring attackers by deliberately injecting large numbers of non-exploitable bugs into software; fenn notes the strategy is moot for open-source projects because anyone can simply recompile with BUGS=off.

• Christopher Allen’s “Dunbar number” and optimum team-size research (lifewithalacrity.com) is discussed; Allen’s 7 ± 2 figure is observed to mirror human working-memory limits and is compared to the Second Foundation’s twelve-person teams in Asimov’s fiction.

• A Canadian low-tech farming community is cited as a real-world example of self-limiting group size: when a settlement nears ~100 members it splits, with a coin-flip the morning of departure deciding which leader and half of the group moves to the new farm, ensuring everyone has invested in both sites.

• WWII anecdote: Polish pilots flying for the RAF ignored strict radio discipline and all talked simultaneously during dogfights; the analog audio channel preserved distance/volume cues, allowing pilots to pick out their wingman’s voice from the “dinner-party effect” din—suggesting digital systems could emulate this by modulating volume with signal strength.

• nmz787 outlines near-term “designer baby” enhancements: engineering common vaccine antibody genes directly into the genome for built-in immunity, selecting for “cuteness” as a marketable trait, and adding built-in diagnostic reporters that give parents real-time health signals.