# Key Points from #hplusroadmap IRC Discussion

• ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit) development costs have decreased significantly, with 65nm designs costing around $500,000 and 28nm designs at $1-3 million, potentially enabling custom RF chips for darknet applications.

• Participants discussed personal data archiving and "exocortex" development techniques, including IRC autologging, IM integration, and selective logging of information rather than comprehensive recording.

• A desktop electronics manufacturing robot called "Electronics Factory" from Tempo Automation was highlighted as a "MakerBot for electronics" capable of etching traces, applying solder paste, placing components, reflowing, and testing circuit boards.

• Several neuroscience papers were shared documenting subjective experiences during electrical brain stimulation, with subjects reporting phenomena like seeing "gothic architecture in 3D," "female genitals," and hearing music.

• Research on electrical stimulation of face-selective brain regions showed it could distort perception, causing subjects to report that faces appeared to "metamorphose" with features appearing to droop.

• Participants drew parallels between surgical brain stimulation research and external application of weak magnetic field patterns, discussing implications for understanding complex partial seizures.