# Key Points from IRC Discussion on Transhumanist Technologies

• Participants explored sustainable building technologies, focusing on compressed earth bricks as an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional materials, highlighting their durability, resistance to termites, and local sourcing advantages.

• The group discussed open manufacturing initiatives, including desktop CNC router projects from oomlout.com, with particular interest in developing machines capable of cutting hard metals that would be both functional and inspiring for the DIY community.

• Various rapid prototyping technologies were compared, including RepRap (thermoplastic extrusion), Z-Corp (plaster and water), and custom solutions using materials like dental plaster mixed with maltodextrin and guarana/acai.

• The conversation addressed the philosophical tension between centralized and decentralized manufacturing, debating whether economies of scale necessarily drive centralization or if distributed production using standardized tools could achieve comparable efficiency.

• Technical challenges of creating a "semantic shell" system were discussed, which would automatically connect software tools based on input/output formats, with references to Debian's debtags system and RDF as potential but incomplete solutions.

• Resources for DIY machine building were shared, including the Gingery books and a wiki for modernizing traditional machine building techniques, with technical discussions about using air bearings and linear motors to achieve precision in homemade tools.