For the Yay:
one, I hope not too stupid question: can I just rip these little brown thingamajigs off the august h-boards, or is it counterproductive? If yes, how do I do it best?
August caps should be ok. If you want to remove them I recommend a hot-air station with temp set to max 340°C. They come off pretty easily with tweezers. We were doing 16 cards per hour.