# Key Points from #hplusroadmap IRC Discussion

• Participants discussed memory enhancement technology, referencing a New York Times article about rats with memory-improving implants, drawing parallels to science fiction concepts like Peter F. Hamilton's "brain backup crystals."

• A debate emerged about the distinction between "cyberwar" and "cyber espionage," with references to Operation Aurora (the Google hacking incident) and whether digital attacks on infrastructure could be considered acts of war comparable to physical actions like naval blockades.

• Technical resources were shared, including a JavaScript MP3 decoder (jsmad.org), genomic data from the 1000 Genomes Project, and a collaborative hardware design platform called Upverter that offers GitHub-like schematic editing in the browser.

• A philosophical discussion explored the relationship between self-tracking and narcissism, noting research that found self-trackers scored in the middle range of narcissism scales.

• The conversation addressed China's gender imbalance crisis, sharing Economist articles about the "worldwide war on baby girls" and marriage markets in China, with debate about how the abolishment of the one-child policy might gradually impact these social issues.

• An interesting claim suggested that software development innovation significantly slowed after the late 1980s, arguing that since Smalltalk, programming paradigms have largely been iterations of existing concepts rather than revolutionary advances.