# Summary of #hplusroadmap IRC Discussion (March 23, 2010)

* A discussion about cryonics took place, with one user mentioning a successful conversation with their girlfriend about the topic, and another user sharing resources on longevity research at http://designfiles.org/papers/longevity/, suggesting active work on longevity rather than relying solely on cryonics organizations like Alcor.

* Open hardware initiatives were discussed, with links shared to Eyebeam's "Opening Hardware" project (http://eyebeam.org/projects/opening-hardware) and a related Science Blogs article (http://scienceblogs.com/commonknowledge/2010/03/open_hardware.php), with a note that RepRap contributors were surprisingly not involved.

* A resource on funding free software development was shared: "howto pay for free software" (http://users.puzzling.org/users/mary/HOWTO/Free/), potentially relevant to open-source transhumanist projects.

* The Beagleboard open hardware platform (http://beagleboard.org/hardware/design) was mentioned as a potential packaging project, suggesting interest in open-source hardware development within the transhumanist community.

* Users discussed visualization tools and educational resources, including the JavaScript visualization library dygraphs (http://www.danvk.org/dygraphs/) and CS Illustrated (http://csillustrated.berkeley.edu/), which creates visual explanations of computer science concepts.

* Aging research was briefly discussed, with one user mentioning their work on age-related hearing loss and the role of apoptotic pathways, while another shared a paper on cytokine modification and stem cell mobilization for acute myocardial infarction.

* The conversation touched on 3D printing services like Shapeways, and included criticism of RepRap/McWire hardware implementation, suggesting tensions between different approaches to open hardware development in the maker community.