# Key Points from #hplusroadmap IRC Discussion

• A research paper was shared discussing how fixed patent terms can distort innovation in cancer research, noting that effective patent terms vary based on time lags between invention and commercialization.

• Technical discussion clarified that SSH uses Diffie-Hellman key exchange for security, making password sniffing ineffective since authentication occurs within the already-established encrypted transport.

• The Parallax Propeller 1 microcontroller was confirmed to be fully open source, with Verilog code available from the Parallax website, with one user mentioning its application in an Apple I replica computer for video terminal functionality.

• A user sought tools for finding common substrings in binary files for a cryptographic attack against PKZip encryption, with another user sharing a custom implementation from a Pokemon reverse engineering project.

• Discussion of UNAFold code refactoring revealed significant issues with global variables, memory leaks, and implementation constraints that limit its functionality.

• The iGEM synthetic biology competition's business model was discussed, clarifying that despite being a non-profit organization, it charges entrance fees and restricts physical access to most biobrick sequences to registered teams only.