Zark's

Supreme Court Decides in Monsanto's Favor

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled yesterday on a closely watched patent case.  Monsanto sells soybeans that have a genetic modification which makes them resistant to the herbicide, Roundup, which Monsanto also conveniently sells. 

Genetically modified seed costs a little over twice natural seed.  A farmer in Indiana decided to purchase harvested genetically modified corn and replant it instead of purchasing the expensive seed licensed by Monsanto.

It was a unanimous court decision in favor of Monsanto. 

There is a First Sale Doctrine which states that if I purchase something copyrighted from the copyright holder, I have the right to sell or otherwise distribute that particular copy.  So the original licensed seeds could have been resold to the farmer without injuring Monsanto.  However, those seeds were planted, and essentially new copies of the original copy were made.  The First Sale Doctrine is not applicable to replicated copies, just like you cannot make copies of a music CD that you purchased and resell them. 

The twist in the case was that mother nature is performing the replication, not an individual.  However, in their nuanced decision, the justices ruled it was the farmer responsible for the replication, not the product itself.  Mmm.  I understand the decision, but not their justification. 

 

Is Microsoft Having a JC Penney Moment?

Traditional PC users don't like Windows 8 a lot.  The Metro interface is not designed for a keyboard and mouse.  Instead, it is for fingers and a touchscreen display.  It is ironic that despite the progress with agile software development, Microsoft wants to have a single user interface for tablets, smart phones, and PCs. (The idea of agile software development is that new software products can be developed much faster and economically than traditional software development - hence why is Microsoft adamant there should be one software interface?)

I have used an Android phone for 3 years, and I dislike the touchscreen interface intensely.  I'm looking forward to test-driving the Blackberry Q10 in hope that I can leave the inefficient and error-prone touchscreen keyboard in the cyber dust.  (I'm a little concerned about the poor reviews on the camera, though.)

In short, I'm primarily a producer, not a consumer, and touchscreens are far too inefficient for even generating this blog.  Apparently Microsoft is encountering similar resistance from other keyboard and mouse afficiondos. 

Microsoft responds to 'extreme' Windows 8 Criticism tells that Microsoft believes it is on the right path because they have sold 100 million copies of Windows 8.  They neglect to confess very few of those have been by consumer choice - where users purchased operating systems upgrades.  Instead, almost all of those have been with new products where Windows 8 was distributed with the new computer or phone. 

But only 100 million new devices means PC sales are down 14 percent.  Others have estimated the number of devices actually running Windows 8 is only 50 to 60 million.  Analysts and PC manufacturers are pointing the decline of the PC market directly at Windows 8.  Some are claiming that Microsoft's Windows 8 is the worst product introduction since New Coke. 

So does Microsoft have agile management?  Not only for the company's benefit, but for others as well.

 

Our Standard of Living is Under Threat Because of Overpopulation

"Blue Marble" Image of Earth
Image Credit: NASA/NOAA/GSFC/Suomi NPP/VIIRS/Norman Kuring

Mmm.  I dislike pessimistic titles, but I believe the economic and climate data signals a tipping point.

Back in the 70s, when scientists were not on the disco floor, they were concerned about the size of the world's population.  Zero Population Growth (ZPG) became a political movement.  In the 80s and 90s, advances in agricultural technology hid the problem. 

Yesterday a columnist for the Washington Post, Robert J. Samuelson penned, The Twilight of Entitlement.  His title is a bit misleading, because it isn't about social security or society safety nets.  Samuelson defines entitlement as believing your dreams are possible if you work/study hard and play by the rules.  With the Great Recession, that social pact was broken.  The inequality gap is growing, and instead of everyone's boat being lifted, the majority are sinking. The limitless future is no more.  My interpretation of the data is that we have too many people for the Earth's limited resources.

I am concerned about a culture where there isn't a reason to get out of bed in the morning.  Or going to bed without dreaming that tomorrow will be better. 

The World Population clock spins pretty quickly.  The world population is 7.082 billion people, with 315.77 million in the U.S.  By 2100 it will be just a little shy of 10 billion. 

Zero-Sum and Our Culture

Gen. David H. Petraeus, Commander, United Staes Central Command, talks with head Super Bowl XLIII Referee, Terry McAulay, prior to the coin toss at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.
Image Credit: U.S. Army

In 1969 Ted Turner sold several radio stations to purchase Channel 17 in Atlanta, a struggling UHF television station.  He experimented with the programming, trying to find inexpensive programs that viewers would watch.  He obtained rights to fare such as Gilligan's Island.  In 1976, the FCC permitted Ted to sell his programming to local cable operators around the country, using satellite distribution.  In that same year, he solved his programming problem with a stroke of genius.  He purchased the Atlanta Braves baseball team and began beaming every game to television sets around the nation.  His programming decision has changed a world.

Sports is close to perfect for programming, because it is much cheaper than developing a new film, opera, or even a television series episode.  (Okay, reality shows can be even cheaper.)  Sports has human drama, personality, and every performance is different.  On a given day, any team can win.  Sports is not just an American fascination - browse to any international newspaper and note the lengthy coverage on sports. 

Something about most popular sports - they are zero-sum games.  It means there is a winner and a loser. 

I fear the continuous exposure to zero-sum sports has changed our culture for the worse.  We automatically assume in every negotiation or event there must be a winner and at least one loser.  (Consider the American Congress as an example.) 

But suppose we abandon zero-sum and insist that outcomes 'raise everyone's boat'?

 

 

Australia's Economic Trap

The Manly Ferry cruises past the Sydney Opera House
Image Credit: CIA World Factbook

Australia has a dilemma.  Its biggest customer - China, keeps buying all the raw materials (iron, coal, etc.) that Australia can mine.  That export market and the accompanying tight labor market has Australia's dollar high against the world's other currencies.

That high currency valuation makes it impossible for Australian manufacturing to compete with imported goods.  So while Australia is enjoying good times with a high standard of living and low unemployment, the bottom is visible and it will not be fun.  Especially since this economic run has cost the nation all of its manufacturing. 

Curiously this is perhaps the best argument ever for government regulation of capitalism.  Left solely to market forces, Australia will someday take a battering. 

Now That Spring is Here, NOAA Tells Us What to Expect

Cherry Blossoms in Bloom With Washington Monument in View
Image Credit: National Park Service

The three-month U.S. spring outlook calls for above-average temperatures across most of the country.  However, don't expect drought relief for Texas, the southwest, or Florida.

Ironically, river flooding will be a problem in some portions of the nation as shown on the left.  The Red River in North Dakota and northwest Minnesota have a 50 percent chance of flooding 20,000 acres of floodlands and roadways. 

Expect above-normal temperatures across most of the nation.  South and west will be drier than normal, although more rain could be expected in the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley. 

 

When the Bottom Drops Out

Cover-collapse sinkhole in limestone near Frederick, Maryland (September 2003).
Image Credit: Randall Orndorff , U.S. Geological Survey

The recent sinkhole trajegy in Tampa, Florida has many homeowners wondering about the safety of their castles.

The Science of Sinkholes cautions about 20 percent of the nation is susceptible to sinkhole events.  The geological definition of a sinkhole is a depression in the ground that has no external drainage.  In other words, rainwater stays inside the sinkhole and can only drain in the subsurface.

Subsequently sinkholes are possible where the underground rock can be dissolved by rainwater circulating through it.  This includes salt bed, gypsum, limestone, and other carbonite rock.  Sinkholes are most common in Florida, Texas, Alabama, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Pennyslvania. 

USGS tells there are two basic types of sinkholes.  The first is cover-collapse, which develop quickly.  The second is cover-subsidence, which develop over a long time and appear as a slight depression. 

The graphic on the left shows the most prevalent sinkhole areas in the country.  It is difficult to determine if your property has a sinkhole.  Check for small holes in the ground or cracks in your home's foundation.  Sinkholes can be created by manmade activity such as leaking pipe or faucet.  They can also be caused by sudden change of the underground water level.  Too much pumping or a change in the watershed can result in a sinkhole.

More Than Honey Bees Suffering from Colony Collapse Disorder

Bumblebee hovering
Image Credit: Michael W. Tome, USGS

I have blogged several times about colony collapse disorder (CCD) - the affliction that is decimating the honey bee population worldwide.  CCD became noticed in October 2006 when beekeepers began reporting hive losses between 30 and 90 percent.  The primary symptom is disappearance of all the adult honey bees.  The queen is left alone in the hive with honey, and immature bees, but the adults are missing.  (Sort of like Washington, D.C., right now, but I digress.) 

It is a serious ecological problem, because our ecosystem requires pollinators.  The California almond industry requires almost 60 percent of the nation's managed honey bees during pollination season. 

The American Bumblebee is crashing, too sounds an alarm.  The American bumblebee is missing.  Recent studies show the bumblebee has almost completely disappeared from its former norther territory.  They are still healthy in Texas and the West, but in the north and midwest, they have disappeared. 

Perhaps the disappearance of the bumblebee is due to a related colony collapse disorder.  Pesticides are suspected, as well as parasites, but the primary cause has yet to be discovered.  Mmm.  We should be alert to larger species beginning to disappear as well.

 

 

Livestock Virus Spreading in Europe

The Tsurcana breed has evolved since prehistoric times, principally in the Carpathian Mountains. Constituting the principal breed in Romania, they are used for milk, meat and coarse wool often used for oriental carpets.
Image and Label Credit: USDA

Livestock virus found on 1500 farms tells that Schmallenberg disease is reported in all counties of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.  Because it is carried by midges and mosquitoes, Scottish farmers are anxiously watching their livestock.

Some farms have reported heavy losses of newborns during the winter lambing season.

Schmallenberg virus is named after the city of the same name in Germany were the first definitive sample was obtained.  Biologically known as orthobunyavirus, it results in congenital malformations and still births in livestock.  So far health authorities do not believe it can cross over to humans because similar viruses are not zoonotic. 

Some evidence suggests that immunity can be acquired naturally, but a vaccine is under development.  The disease has been observed in wildlife such as deer. 

State Department Honoring the Japanese Gift of Cherry Trees

Photo of the Helen Taft, a new cherry tree variety
Image Credit: USDA Agricultural Research, Margaret Pooler

Perhaps George Washington cut down the only cherry tree in what is now called Washington, D.C.  In 1912, the people of Japan gave a gift of cherry blossom trees to the United States as a gesture of friendship and goodwill.  Today there are about 3,750 trees in the national parks around Washington.

Unlike a calendar date, the blossoming of the trees depends upon the weather.  The average date is April 4, but it can vary substantially.  Although the U.S. is not as captured with the cherry blossoms as Japan, hotels in Washington, D.C. become very expensive during the cherry blossom season. If you want more information about the festival, check out the National Cherry Blossom Festival website.

State Department's Gift of Dogwoods to Japan in Honor of 100th Anniversary of Cherry Tree Gift explains that 150 trees were planted in Tokyo in November 2012.  The remainder of 1000 trees to Tokyo will be planted later.  An additional 1000 trees will be planted in the Tohoku region in honor of the tsunami victims.  Because cherry trees are almost always planted outside of Japanese schools, another 1000 dogwoods will be distributed to schools and other organizations.

In the United States, dogwoods grow from Florida to Michigan and as far west as Missouri and Texas.