Following up on http://lesswrong.com/lw/jij/open_thread_for_january_17_23_2014/af90 :
This is a minimally-viable update on account of recent travel and imminent job interviews, but the precommitments seem to be succeeding in at least forcing something like progress and keeping some attention on the problem.
If it's worth saying, but not worth its own post (even in Discussion), then it goes here.