# Key Points from IRC Log (December 6, 2012)

- Discussion about hardware reverse engineering tools and techniques, including Degate (an open source software for semi-automatic reverse engineering of logic in integrated circuits) and a 3DS decapping fundraising project to discover hardware secrets through professional lab delayering and SEM imaging.

- Announcement that Singularity University acquired the Singularity Summit and the Singularity Institute brand (including singularity.org domain), with the Singularity Institute continuing operations under a new brand to be determined.

- Critique of Zero State, a self-described "new community hub for transhumanists," with participants questioning its vague technological focus and claims about traditional transhumanism having "overly formal, hierarchical structure."

- Brief discussion about command-line tools for web services, including GoogleCL, Surfraw, and Yubnub, which allow users to create aliases for common search queries.

- Conversation about user interfaces and computing efficiency, with quotes suggesting that modern interfaces waste computing power while users spend time "pointing, clicking, dragging, typing, as gigahertz processors spin idly."

- Debate about the effectiveness of steroids for programming or hacking performance, with discussion about hormone replacement challenges and homeostasis disruption.