Transferring archives?

I have been meaning to transfer my archives over from the old location of this blog. Thing is I really dont have the time to figure it out. My thesis work is going on at full speed, plus I have a mind-numbing course which is really a pain. (funny - if it is numbing; how does it pain?).

Anyways - gotta do it soon, else I'm sure i'll forget all about it.

Can you patent life?

GM food is set to enter the world in a big way.I was reading up on Genetically Modified foods, particularly by Monsanto as it has arguably the most controversial GM history. In India Monsanto has been present for quite some years and I remember reading about their genetically modified boll cotton plants years ago.

Monsanto (or a sister company) came up with a weed killer that really socked the creepers. I mean whack! It wiped the field clean .. so clean in fact that more often than not the crop would also go ka-put on you. So they came up with engineered seeds which will resist their weed-killer. Pretty devious. You have to buy the other if u wanna use one. Anyways this is the least of their practices which have roiled the company in controversies. Monsanto guards their seed with exceptional vigour and farmers have to pay (me thinks) a certain sum each year to use their seed. i.e. you buy their seed once, grow the crop - and if you are gonna use seed of that crop again next year you have to pay them for it.

Anyways, I digressed quite a bit. The reason I started on genetically modifed things in the first place was because of the main question being posed currently. Can you patent life? Monsanto can demand royalty off their seed because they have patented that particular seed. Seed maynot be the first thing that comes to your mind when I say life, but engineered breeds of lab mice, pets are being patented. Sure you 'built' the thing its yours to claim.

Many people are fighting against this as they feel life should not be patented. Many envision a scenario where humans are engineered for a certain trait (may be anything) and patented. Once you have patented something you earn money off it .. pretty scary; yes. But if patents are not granted for seeds, lab-mice, whatever, then the GM wagon will slow down considerably. You spend tons of money on it you expect some return.

Obviously the counter argumet is 'why modify life in the first place?' I disagree with this view. Genetically modified products definitely improve output in whatever way they are designed to. Even before GM, we had modified products in the food chain. (chicken, fruit injected with hormones). Humans, through science have modifed the Earth as a whole in an irreparable way.. and it will continue. There is no way we can 'live as an observer' so to say.

Tis a snow day!!

Halleluiah !! It's finally a snow day! The heavens have sent upon us shitloads of pure white amazing snow, more than the super efficient Duluth road clearers can handle. Campus is closed!!

Finally I can put this time to productive use; like playing carrom or watching TV.

A picture is worth a thou

Look at the #&@*%^ windchill ..

And quoting Ms. Aguilera ..

So I wanna say thank you

Cause it makes me that much stronger
Makes me work a little bit harder
It makes me that much wiser
So thanks for making me a fighter
Made me learn a little bit faster
Made my skin a little bit thicker
It makes me that much smarter
So thanks for making me a fighter

Heh heh heh.

B-E-A-utiful

I'm in school, came early today. Theres a raging 'snowstorm' going on outside, it's tapering off even as I write .. and has mostly calmed down. For a few moments I could just see the wind blow awesome quantities of snow around .. much like you would imagine, trees resisting, rolling with the punches, and the sun trying to shine through it all. You can all but feel the force of the whole thing. If only I had a nice sofa here, a comforter and a cup of hot coffee, (and nothing to do) I could watch it for hours. I cant hear it (as the windows are closed) though I bet its making quite a racket. That makes it even better, as I can imagine the rest. Purrfect.

Tintin turns 75!!

I grew up on a lot of stuff, mainly books. Tintin and The Hardy Boys and Archie constituted a major chunk. Tintin turned 75 last week. Heres to you my friend ...

When I get a job or start my own business and start settling down in life - I'm gonna buy all Tintin, Asterix and Calvin & Hobbes issues. Really.

Here I am ..

Finally I have shifted the blog .. and this is the first entry on the new domain. I wanted to write this yesterday, as soon as India won the match against Australia; but sleep prevailed (the match ended at 6:00am or thereabouts). It was a tremendous victory and will go a long way in lifting my spirits whenever I think about it. (Lets hope it does the same for the team members).
Anyways, a new semester starts tomorrow .. the final one as far as I am concerned. It's always exciting to go to school on the first day of the new semester as Resh reminded us not too long ago.
Also, bear with me as I go on experimenting for a few dyas, and think about how to transfer my old archive here, as well as adding other, new stuff. Cheers ..