# Key Points from #hplusroadmap IRC Discussions

• Participants discussed Kevin Kelly's writing on "the internet of things" and open-source DNA, with some skepticism expressed about the hype surrounding these concepts.

• An article about SKDB (a package management system for physical objects) in H+ Magazine gained significant attention, being picked up by Tim O'Reilly and featured on disinfo.com, though concerns were raised about misrepresentations of OpenCASCADE's capabilities.

• A philosophical debate emerged about the relationship between digital and physical reality, with some arguing there is no "grounding problem" while others emphasized the importance of direct engagement with the physical world.

• Participants noted a cultural bias toward digital technologies ("bits and bytes") over physical manufacturing and engineering ("atoms"), with this bias observed even among mechanical engineering professors.

• The need for better integration of scattered bioinformatics software libraries was discussed, highlighting a gap in standardized frameworks for biological computing.

• Advanced prosthetic technologies from Touch Bionics (www.touchbionics.com) were shared, along with research on bacteriorhodopsin memory (http://designfiles.org/papers/bacteriorhodopsin_memory/), demonstrating interest in novel biological computing and enhancement technologies.

• The conversation touched on self-sufficiency versus outsourcing in technology development, with one participant preferring "the food chain be thicker below me than thinner" for both self-sufficiency and risk management.