There is an inherit difference between mere "splicing" and the ultra complex "modification" often overlooked and erroneously conflated here. Traditional splicing is likely benign, while the latter is socially and environmentally reprehensible. Reading, and maintaining proper perspective.

Except that tax dollars aren't being spent on petitions.

Seriously? Only in America can we start a conversation about Chinese seeds, and have the entire thread obliterated and hijacked by commentary about off topic interface. By the same audience that would decry this in any other forum. Have we devolved to a nation of mere trolls?

I'm picturing a new mall store called "Off Topic." It's filled with disgruntled employees and shoppers, with their own ideas about how a store should be run, and suggestions for merchandise without any regard to, well, the topic actually relevant to the designated sale point at the end of the day.

The stated issue and victim of obfuscation in this argument is that Google as a private company has been (knowingly) violating the law by using public bus stops in transporting employees without formal permission, let alone any discussion of compensation and guidelines to offset disruption of the public. Secondarily, the city of San Francisco was essentially letting Google get away with doing so until they could no longer ignore the outcry over the situation. Transportation is highly regulated, and Google has been effectively exempt from following the rules governing its counterparts as a part of some special class. And while many other complexities abound here, it can't be emphasized enough that corporations always want to be treated as very special people, but are established as entities to avoid the same financial and social responsibilities expected from the rest of us.

Inappropriate. But you go, girl. As in away.

As a 22-year pro/consumer user of Apple, I can't really complain... Infinitely more beautiful, useful, productive, and easier-to-use, more stable products than I've ever used. My MacBook Pro, iPhone, and iPad are amazing. OTH, my Quad Core tower at the office is a mess... And isolating the problems requires a close labor intensity of the plague-ridden Quadras and PowerPCs from the 90s. But this is primarily because, as the odd man out at the office, I literally have to "do it all." I put together psentations and proposals for an ad agency, which requires being fluent in multiple versions of both Adobe CS and Microsoft Office on both Apple and Windows. (And don't get me started about how equally sloppy and conflict-ridden both CS5 and Office 2011 are.) With that out of the way, I still find Apple to be more user friendly across the board. There was an interesting article in thiis week's WSJ about how more Fortune 500 companies are embracing the iPhone over other mobile devices, particularly Android, because it is so much easier to manage in terms of security... But low-end consumers opt for Android devices for the price point. My company already follows Apple strategy... While the IT department helped me set up my iPhone, I set up my laptop and new iPad all on my own. For better or worse, once I'm plugged in, I'm in.... So, while there is more from Hidden Valley than just ranch dressing, it all depends on the options the user has at the salad bar, in terms of toppings and dressings.

I'm not the expert, but I can attest anecdotally, that yoga accomplishes this exactly as it was ascribed by my chiropractor, my teachers, and my friends who practice. The beauty of yoga is the simplicity... Using only the body in terms of strength, stretching, and resistance to actually reverse the effects of sitting at a computer for eight-plus hours a day. And everyone who knows me and my practice says it has made me an infinitely better person. (And vastly improved my dating life.)

I spend long hours at a computer in advertising. I started to suffer early symptoms of carpal tunnel just over ten years ago, in addition to the constant back pain alleviated by fairly frequent chiropractic treatment. The first thing I did for the carpal tunnel was move my mouse to the left, and use a Wacom tablet on the right. It helped, but wasn't a complete panacea. The second thing I did really changed my life: yoga. My neck, shoulders, back, and wrists have been virtually pain free in the just over eight years I've been practicing. Always a skinny, non-athletic type of guy, I gained weight with muscle tone, and greatly improved my posture and flexibility. It literally saved my life. And at 47 I can totally keep up with the twenty-somethings.