It kinda was a big deal back then. This was the early days of mainstream internet hoaxes and a lot of people actually believed that shit (my teenage self included).
One of the bathrooms at my office has a fully enclosed "stall" and a urinal. But the sensor for the light is outside of the stall, and it's only like 3 minutes. So when you're in the middle of a number 2, you have to either do the rest in total darkness, or risk opening the door to give a wave to the sensor.
Don't know about open source, but we use Paprika. You can add recipes by ripping them through the app's browser, and add all ingredients for a recipe to the shopping list. Which is syncable.
I would just like to point out that it's not possible to be politically agnostic. Besides political stances or ideologies not being religions, everyone has some point of view on at least some issues, be they societal, financial, etc.
I remember that one!