I think things like medusa and canning are cool because they are staple content for RPG/Roguelike games, but I would hate to see their implementation become a nethack clone. It would be cool if we could come up with a cool twist on these so that their encounters in IVAN are different than they are in other games.
AFAIK you cannot can your own food currently. Empty cans can be filled with liquids though.
I seem to recall that at some point prior to 0.50 you were able to do this by using a pickaxe on corpses or dipping them, but I could be totally wrong as well.
I think one of the original devs, J_Kahvi is still lurking around, try talking to him, he could probably be a guide. There were 2 other devs as far as I remember, one became a politician and would probably respond to you, and I don't know about the third person.
I agree 100%. for a random spawn, they have the difficulty of a boss monster. probably more difficult because of the head only/unconsious attack. Its really annoying and unbalancing, and really, not enjoyable.
Like: Everything excpet the items outlined in Dislike below
Dislike:
-Mind Worms. in their current implementation they are overpowered and appear too early/often
-The fact that there is no cure/antidote for mustard gas traps. They kill me every time, even when I Run out of the cloud.