Comment Re:How is it even still up? (Score 1) 267
So when the servers for the exchange are this far from working on October 4, you think we should go ahead and fine anyone who hasn't gotten an approved insurance policy by Jan. 1?
So when the servers for the exchange are this far from working on October 4, you think we should go ahead and fine anyone who hasn't gotten an approved insurance policy by Jan. 1?
If you're speaking of Bowman v. Monsanto, that is incorrect.
Bowman was about a second crop.
In case of a legitimate sale, the purchaser has the right to use the product sold for the purpose indicated: growing a crop for market sale. Any licenses from the seller which may be necessary to use it for the purpose indicated must be included with the sale.
Bowman had the right to plant the seeds he bought. That was not what he got sued over.
Bowman also had a second generation; what he planted the second time were seeds that, per the license, he had the right to sell--but not to plant.
Monsanto does sell licenses to grow seed for planting, but that comes with a royalty. If you use traits from Monsanto, you end up paying Monsanto for each generation you plant. It works the same way for seed companies.
(Note: I'm not arguing that the current laws are ideal. But they aren't nearly as bad as some people make them out to be.)
That's unlikely. So much so that I suspect sarcasm.
Corn is grown by individual farmers, who purchase seed from several large seed companies and smaller companies that sometimes license traits.
So, big picture:
1) Picture the difficulty in manipulationg over a thousand grain elevators, or in suing half a million farmers at the same time...
I doubt that many companies could pull that off.
2) Patent exhaustion incontestably applies to the first crop when a company sells its own seed.
3) Monsanto's far from a monopoly; even if they managed to shut down all the corn that was grown from saved seeds and from their seeds, that would probably be less than half what has been planted.
4) It's not like them. They have been hard at work improving public image, though not everyone is convinced.
(I say this as someone who interned at Pioneer.)
5) Two words: corporate suicide.
It's not like Pioneer (DuPont), BASF, Bayer, and Dow are irrelevant in corn or soybean production. And two of those are larger companies than Monsanto.
Meanwhile, Monsanto specializes in seeds and chemicals.
I don't see any way that scenario could happen without their seed marketshare going to 0.
But how many of the 200+ above Monsanto have a real impact on food production worldwide? How many more or less decide the steady march towards agricultural monoculture that has been predicted by many to be the first step in a crop collapse?
Let's see who's involved in ag-related industries and above Monsanto:
Food processors:
Archer-Daniels-Midland, ConAgra, Tyson Foods, Smithfield, and a few more. I'm excluding bottling companies like Pepsi and Coca-Cola.
Manufacurers producing ag equipment among other products:
Ford, Caterpillar, Deere & Co.
Chemical/drug companies with major ag lines and a larger total size:
Dow (ag chemicals, seeds), Merck (veterinary), DuPont (ag chemicals, seeds)
Monsanto is in the same vicinity as Waste Management and DISH Network. I named ten companies that are larger.
That's probably the reason, and generally the seed companies provide a bunch of services/resources to help farmers planting their seeds.
(Source: I paid attention during classes-I finished a B.S. in ag last year)
Examples:
agAnytime (apparently Monsanto affiliate)
Pioneer's agronomy site
Try paying cash for rent and textbooks at a university (separate transactions, same institution)...
You may get some odd looks.
Also, my family had a landlord who had us pay rent in cash, but it was because he didn't want to go to the bank (80 year old German farmer, legally blind though he could still plow straight).
If only I hadn't just used up all my mod points!
(I note that "Congress" strictly speaking means both the House of Representatives and the Senate.)
Of course, that is blameworthy only if you agree that the issues the two parties raise are less important than the budget...
I have at times received pay in cash.
I pay for most things in cash. It's fun paying rent with paper...
Just to remind folks about legal tender.
Woosh!
Nope.
It seems that for every "improvement" they can find, they figure out a way to make it worse.
Wait...wasn't it ATH0?
No, that's a wireless interface.
(ducks)
I'd say +1 on xTuple, but you've got far more insight than I.
I was about to suggest that myself; my brother demonstrated it recently at a smallish manufacturing company he works for. IIRC, they ended up going for the commercial version.
Clueless fellow who doesn't even understand what he's replying to.
The OP did not write it. He inherited it. VB was not his choice.
This isn't "How do I go rewrite this crap" but "I'm all for tossing every vestige of this out the door; does anyone have a replacement?"
And while we're at it:
SQL Express?
Go with Postgres or something else that scales in terms of systems rather than wallets.
+1 informative.
The iPad uses HTML5 video, though it's H264.
But that doesn't mean they are actual purchased iPads.
See here for a clue.
Today is a good day for information-gathering. Read someone else's mail file.