49 years ago "the single most influential creative force in early rock & roll" - as Bruce Eder has said - Buddy Holly died in a plane crash with Ritchie Valens and J.P. Richardson, "The Big Bopper."

January 31, 2008

Board of Directors
Yahoo! Inc.
701 First Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA 94089
Attention: Roy Bostock, Chairman
Attention: Jerry Yang, Chief Executive Officer

Dear Members of the Board:

I am writing on behalf of the Board of Directors of Microsoft to make a proposal for a business combination of Microsoft and Yahoo!. Under our proposal, Microsoft would acquire all of the outstanding shares of Yahoo! common stock for per share consideration of $31 based on Microsoft's closing share price on January 31, 2008, payable in the form of $31 in cash or 0.9509 of a share of Microsoft common stock. Microsoft would provide each Yahoo! shareholder with the ability to choose whether to receive the consideration in cash or Microsoft common stock, subject to pro-ration so that in the aggregate one-half of the Yahoo! common shares will be exchanged for shares of Microsoft common stock and one-half of the Yahoo! common shares will be converted into the right to receive cash. Our proposal is not subject to any financing condition.

Our proposal represents a 62% premium above the closing price of Yahoo! common stock of $19.18 on January 31, 2008. The implied premium for the operating assets of the company clearly is considerably greater when adjusted for the minority, non-controlled assets and cash. By whatever financial measure you use - EBITDA, free cash flow, operating cash flow, net income, or analyst target prices - this proposal represents a compelling value realization event for your shareholders.

We believe that Microsoft common stock represents a very attractive investment opportunity for Yahoo!'s shareholders. Microsoft has generated revenue growth of 15%, earnings growth of 26%, and a return on equity of 35% on average for the last three years. Microsoft's share price has generated shareholder returns of 8% during the last one year period and 28% during the last three year period, significantly outperforming the S&P 500. It is our view that Microsoft has significant potential upside given the continued solid growth in our core businesses, the recent launch of Windows Vista, and other strategic initiatives.

Microsoft’s consistent belief has been that the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo! clearly represents the best way to deliver maximum value to our respective shareholders, as well as create a more efficient and competitive company that would provide greater value and service to our customers. In late 2006 and early 2007, we jointly explored a broad range of ways in which our two companies might work together. These discussions were based on a vision that the online businesses of Microsoft and Yahoo! should be aligned in some way to create a more effective competitor in the online marketplace. We discussed a number of alternatives ranging from commercial partnerships to a merger proposal, which you rejected. While a commercial partnership may have made sense at one time, Microsoft believes that the only alternative now is the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo! that we are proposing.

In February 2007, I received a letter from your Chairman indicating the view of the Yahoo! Board that "now is not the right time from the perspective of our shareholders to enter into discussions regarding an acquisition transaction." According to that letter, the principal reason for this view was the Yahoo! Board's confidence in the "potential upside" if management successfully executed on a reformulated strategy based on certain operational initiatives, such as Project Panama, and a significant organizational realignment. A year has gone by, and the competitive situation has not improved.(1)

While online advertising growth continues, there are significant benefits of scale in advertising platform economics, in capital costs for search index build-out, and in research and development, making this a time of industry consolidation and convergence. Today, the market is increasingly dominated by one player who is consolidating its dominance through acquisition. Together, Microsoft and Yahoo! can offer a credible alternative for consumers, advertisers, and publishers.(2) Synergies of this combination fall into four areas:

• Scale economics: This combination enables synergies related to scale economics of the advertising platform where today there is only one competitor at scale. This includes synergies across both search and non-search related advertising that will strengthen the value proposition to both advertisers and publishers. Additionally, the combination allows us to consolidate capital spending.
• Expanded R&D capacity: The combined talent of our engineering resources can be focused on R&D priorities such as a single search index and single advertising platform.(4) Together we can unleash new levels of innovation, delivering enhanced user experiences, breakthroughs in search, and new advertising platform capabilities. Many of these breakthroughs are a function of an engineering scale that today neither of our companies has on its own.
• Operational efficiencies: Eliminating redundant infrastructure and duplicative operating costs will improve the financial performance of the combined entity.
• Emerging user experiences: Our combined ability to focus engineering resources that drive innovation in emerging scenarios such as video, mobile services, online commerce, social media, and social platforms is greatly enhanced.

We would value the opportunity to further discuss with you how to optimize the integration of our respective businesses to create a leading global technology company with exceptional display and search advertising capabilities. You should also be aware that we intend to offer significant retention packages to your engineers, key leaders and employees across all disciplines.(3a)

We have dedicated considerable time and resources to an analysis of a potential transaction and are confident that the combination will receive all necessary regulatory approvals. We look forward to discussing this with you, and both our internal legal team and outside counsel are available to meet with your counsel at their earliest convenience.

Our proposal is subject to the negotiation of a definitive merger agreement and our having the opportunity to conduct certain limited and confirmatory due diligence. In addition, because a portion of the aggregate merger consideration would consist of Microsoft common stock, we would provide Yahoo! the opportunity to conduct appropriate limited due diligence with respect to Microsoft. We are prepared to deliver a draft merger agreement to you and begin discussions immediately.

In light of the significance of this proposal to your shareholders and ours, as well as the potential for selective disclosures, our intention is to publicly release the text of this letter tomorrow morning.

Due to the importance of these discussions and the value represented by our proposal, we expect the Yahoo! Board to engage in a full review of our proposal. My leadership team and I would be happy to make ourselves available to meet with you and your Board at your earliest convenience. Depending on the nature of your response, Microsoft reserves the right to pursue all necessary steps to ensure that Yahoo!'s shareholders are provided with the opportunity to realize the value inherent in our proposal.(3b)

We believe this proposal represents a unique opportunity to create significant value for Yahoo!'s shareholders and employees, and the combined company will be better positioned to provide an enhanced value proposition to users and advertisers. We hope that you and your Board share our enthusiasm, and we look forward to a prompt and favorable reply.

Sincerely yours,

Steven A. Ballmer
Chief Executive Officer
Microsoft Corporation

* Highlights are from various sources including: ZDNet, AdWeek,
(1) - Laying the ground work for a hostile takeover.
(2) - Google
(3) - Ballmer driving a wedge between the board and stock holders
(4) - need for scale to compete in the digital ad market.

Fat People Cheaper to Treat, Study Says - AP/Wired

Preventing obesity and smoking can save lives, but it doesn't save money, researchers reported Monday. It costs more to care for healthy people who live years longer, according to a Dutch study that counters the common perception that preventing obesity would save governments millions of dollars.

"It was a small surprise," said Pieter van Baal, an economist at the Netherlands' National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, who led the study. "But it also makes sense. If you live longer, then you cost the health system more."

In a paper published online Monday in the Public Library of Science Medicine journal, Dutch researchers found that the health costs of thin and healthy people in adulthood are more expensive than those of either fat people or smokers.

History's Greatest Gadgets - Wired

It's not all about circuits, silicon and stock options: mankind's been making technology since the dawn of time. Here's ten of the most wonderful gadgets from centuries - and millenia - past. No "ThyPhone" jokes, if you please!

 
Jim Morin - 08 February 2008

 
Daryl Cagle - 04 February 2008

 
Tom Toles - 11 February 2008

Crookedness and truth (straightness) are in their nature opposite and cannot dwell together more than frost and fire; for one who has become religious, and practices the way of straight behavior, a false and crooked way of speech is not becoming.

Fo-Sho-Hing-Tsan-King

 
Chan Lowe - 11 February 2008

Chuck Asay - 13 February 2008

 
Dana Summers - 12 February 2008

 
Drew Sheneman - 11 February 2008

Walt Handelsman - 12 February 2008 

The day the wiretaps go dead - C|Net

With all of the attention that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) update (and the administration's vigorous attempts to immunize the criminals telcos), it seems like a good time to explore the issues surrounding surveillance and privacy in America today.
While there are so many scary things being done by intelligence and law enforcement, hope is not far away. Easy to use privacy technologies are upon us, and with them, comes a radical shift in the balance of power. As this article will explain, the scalable techniques with which the NSA, FBI and other agencies can spy on innocent Americans may soon be made useless - forcing them to go back to the old school (and labor intensive) black bag job.

Peacefire newest Circumventor site:

http://www.muskratmovie.com/
http://www.treebanana.com/

Remember, always try https://www.stupidcensorship.com first.

The big list.

A secret to drying clothes? Liquid. - C|Net

Clothes dryers are the second biggest hog of household energy, according to the Department of Energy. Most are so similar in terms of power hunger that the Energy Star label of efficient appliances doesn't even mark dryers.
By this fall, however, consumers could enjoy faster, greener and safer clothes dryers that draw half the power of conventional models, according to Hydromatic Technologies Corporation.
Its Dryer Miser technology would dry garments 41 percent more quickly without shrinking as much or stinking them up with the odor of burnt lint, said Michael Brown, the inventor and company president.

U.S. Plans to Shoot Down Broken Spy Satellite - Washington Post

President Bush, acting on the advice of his national security advisers, has decided to attempt to shoot down a malfunctioning spy satellite that is expected to crash to the Earth by early next month.

Senate Approves Telco Amnesty, Legalizes Bush's Secret Spy Program - Wired

The Senate overwhelming voted Tuesday evening to legalize President Bush's warrantless wiretapping program and grant amnesty to the phone companies that helped out with the domestic spying..

Comcast: Bloggers keep us honest - C|Net

After months of lying and evading our questions, Comcast seems to have developed a love affair with the blogosphere. Is this an early Valentine's Day present for bloggers, or is the company up to its usual tricks?

With one vote, Senator Ken Salazar (D - CO) has lost my vote and gained my angst. The Senator recently voted for FISA bill, which gives amnesty to the telcos and legalizes President Bush's warrantless wiretapping program.

In the Senators news release on the passage of the bill, he talks about how he "supported several amendments that would have gone further in protecting civil liberties and would have limited the immunity protection provided to telecommunications companies involved in helping the government collect intelligence". I believe if he truly was concerned about these items he would have voted no for the bills passage. To me his statement is just more hot D.C air.

It galls me to believe I voted for him. I expected more of him rather than just being a Democratic pushover who is only concerned about being re-elected in this rather conservative state.

Senator Salazar, shame on you for not caring about nor protecting my civil liberties. Be sure to expect me to do whatever I can to prevent you from being re-elected in the next election if you chose to run. Hopefully you will chose not to run again.

If they did, it's about damb time. What the hell have they been waiting for?

Eavesdropping Law Is Likely to Lapse - NYT

Broad spying powers temporarily approved by Congress in August appear likely to lapse this week after a daylong game of chicken on Wednesday between the White House and House Democrats produced no clear resolution.

Bush, GOP Rebuke House Democrats on Surveillance Bill* - Washingon Post

House Democrats have decided to leave Washington today for a one-week recess without any further action on a terrorist surveillance bill set to expire Friday night, drawing protest tactics from Republicans and a sharp rebuke from President Bush.

House set to let warrantless eavesdropping law lapse - CSM

Neither the White House nor House Democrats blinked in a standoff over renewal of a controversial eavesdropping law, now on track to expire at midnight Saturday.

President Bush said Thursday that failure to update the Protect America Act will "harm our ability to monitor new terrorist activities and could reopen dangerous gaps in our intelligence."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in response, dubbed such talk fear-mongering. The president has every authority to continue needed eavesdropping under another law, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), she said. Moreover, the authorities granted under the temporary surveillance law enacted in August will carry on for a year, she added.

President Bush is putting a lot of FUD out there about how our country will be in danger because of this impass. Harry Reid and Silvestre Reyes have written letters to the President concerning his recent remarks. Read them here.

* Be sure to read the comments - there are some really good ones.

 
Chan Lowe - 12 February 2008

 
Gary Varvel - 14 February 2008

Don't cling to your own understanding. Even if you do understand something, you should ask yourself if there might be something you have not fully resolved, or if there may be some higher meaning yet.

Dogen

Under fire, Democrats seek end to spy law feud - C|Net

Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives have already stood up to President Bush this week, refusing to approve a controversial Senate bill that would immunize telephone companies from lawsuits alleging illegal spying. Now they're being forced to defend their actions against those who contend that inaction endangers national security--and who wonder what happens next.

Get Ready for a Crackdown on Broadband Use - PC World

As traffic increases, experts say ISPs may start charging by the gigabyte, limiting use of some services and snooping at the data passing through their networks.

The Washington Post printed a nice piece of FUD in it's Opinion page today. They allowed Mike McConnell, director of national intelligence, to write an opinion piece expressing his concerns about how FISA has not passed and what it means to America. The Daily Kos has a good point by point rebuff of the opinion piece.

What appalls me is that basically McConnell wants retroactive immunity for the telecoms He doesn't want AT&T and Verizon to be held accountable for breaking the law.

Are you ready? Here is some info for you:

NASA Eclipse page

Perfect Viewing for Wednesday's Total Lunar Eclipse - Wired

CU-Boulder Observatory To Host Lunar Eclipse Viewing

Get ready for the eclipse that saved Columbus - AFP

RIAA, MPAA: Be Careful what you Wish For - ITWire

Schemes are being hatched to make it harder and harder to download copyrighted material across the internet. Seems they will be just as successful as the method to stop people recording CDs to tape in the "old days." And just as ludicrous.

Fat Chance: Obesity, genetics, and responsibility - Slate

"Nature tops nurture in childhood obesity," a wire story announced last week. The article's first sentence reported that according to a new study, "Diet and lifestyle play a far smaller role than genetic factors in determining whether a child becomes overweight."

Glitch lets FBI look at slew of e-mail - SFGate

A technical glitch gave the FBI access to the e-mail messages from an entire computer network - perhaps hundreds of accounts or more - instead of simply the lone e-mail address that was approved by a secret intelligence court as part of a national security investigation, according to an internal report of the 2006 episode.

Whistle-blower site taken offline - BBC

A controversial website that allows whistle-blowers to anonymously post government and corporate documents has been taken offline in the US.

Inside the Bizarre World of Japanese Pickup Schools - Wired

Satoshi Fujita is not a good-looking man. He has oily skin, beady eyes, short legs and a boy-band wig to cover his balding head. But that hasn't stopped him from becoming Japan's most sought-after dating coach for geeks.

Many, Perhaps Most, Nearby Sun-Like Stars May Form Rocky Planets - NASA

Astronomers have discovered that terrestrial planets might form around many, if not most, of the nearby sun-like stars in our galaxy. These new results suggest that worlds with potential for life might be more common than we thought.

Check out Vladstudio for sweet wallpapers like this one.

The invasion of America: Creeping intrusions against our privacy rights are an assault on the Constitution.
By Andrew P. Napolitano

When President Nixon was in his pre-Watergate heyday, he ordered the FBI and the CIA to electronically monitor the private behavior of his domestic political adversaries. Shortly after Nixon resigned, investigators discovered hundreds of reports of break-ins and secret electronic surveillance. None of it was authorized by warrants, and thus all of it was illegal. But it had been conducted pursuant to the president's orders. Nixon's defense was, "When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal."

He made that infamous statement in a TV interview years after he left office, but the attitude espoused was obviously one he embraced while in the White House. He, like his present-day successor, rejected the truism that the 4th Amendment of the Constitution, which prohibits the government from conducting electronic surveillance of anyone without a search warrant issued by a judge based on probable cause of a crime, restrains the president.

In response to the abuses during the Nixon administration, Congress enacted the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, in 1978. The law provides that no electronic surveillance may occur by anyone in the government at any time under any circumstances for any reason other than in accordance with law, and no such surveillance may occur within the U.S. of an American other than in accordance with the 4th Amendment.

Read on ...

Andrew P. Napolitano, a New Jersey Superior Court judge from 1987 to 1995, is the senior judicial analyst at the Fox News Channel. His latest book is "A Nation of Sheep."

Fidel Castro retires - Reuters

Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro said on Tuesday that he will not return to lead the communist country, retiring as president 49 years after he seized power in a revolution and became a central figure of the Cold War.

Sign of a faltering economy? Feds to close economic indicator site - Computerworld

It may soon be harder to track whether the U.S. is in fact sliding into a recession with the closing of the U.S. Department of Commerce's EconomicIndicators.gov Web site. The site provides a public portal to key economic indicator data from the government.

 
Chip Bok - 08 January 2008

 
Non Sequitur by Wiley Miller - 06 February 2008

 
M. Wuerking @ Politico.com - 13 February 2008

 
Stuart Carlson - 21 February 2008

Reviewing the RIAA's "Reefer Madness" for the digital age - Ars Technica

We attended a special screening last night of In Trial: Prosecuting Music Piracy, the first feature-length film produced by the National District Attorneys Association in collaboration with the Recording Industry Association of America. Prosecuting Music Piracy is a sordid tale of drugs, terrorism, and technology that artfully challenges society's preconceived notions about justice.

S braces for diplomatic backlash after rendition flight fiasco with Britain - Newsweek

The Bush administration is bracing for a diplomatic backlash after conceding it used British territory to transport suspected terrorists on secret rendition flights despite repeated earlier assurances the U.S. had not.

Google lunar challenge gets under way - C|Net

A privately funded race to land a rover on the moon could cost each team well more than the $20 million grand prize they're vying for, but all of the contestants view Google's Lunar X Prize as a new engine for business in space.

Secret Service defends security at Obama rally in Dallas - Star-Telegram

The U.S. Secret Service on Friday defended its handling of security during a massive rally in downtown Dallas for Barack Obama, saying there was no "lapse" in its "comprehensive and layered security plan," which called for some people to be checked for weapons, while others were not.

GOP politics in a nutshell - Glenn Greenwald/Salon

The House Republicans have produced a new dramatic ad (below) complaining about expiration of The Protect America Act and demanding immediate passage of the Cheney/Rockefeller Senate bill -- thus vesting in the government the power to spy on us with no warrants and vesting in the telecom industry license to break the law with no consequences -- as the only way for us to avoid imminent, violent death (h/t Kathryn Jean Lopez). The ad -- entitled "America at Risk" -- should immediately be mounted on a museum wall under a plaque that reads: "The Republican Party in the U.S., 2001-2008 (and counting)."

Will you trust your medical information to Google? - ZDNet

The Cleveland Clinic has announced a partnership with Google that will essentially be a soft launch of the long-awaited Google Health personal health record service. Privacy concerns may not be too far behind.

If it can happen to a Governor ... - Daily Kos

One of the most shocking stories to grow out of the U.S. attorney firing scandal was the case of Alabama's former Democratic governor, Don Siegelman. Seigelman was convicted on corruption charges last year. That conviction, and the pressure that came from the Bush Justice Department to secure it, has been a focus of Congressional hearings, and now a 60 Minutes story that will air on Sunday.

... If you haven't heard of this case, or aren't 100% clear on its details, you owe it to yourself as an American, as a voter, or just as an educated, capable adult human being with any amount of political awareness, to make yourself familiar with this travesty. CBS will only go so far in helping you do it.

via The Reporters on BBC.com

Ohio Democratic Primary

Barack Obama 5/6
Hillary Clinton 5/6

Election Winner

Democrats 1/2
Republicans 6/4
Independent 20/1

Who will be elected U.S. President?

Barack Obama 8/11
John McCain 6/4
Hillary Clinton 6/1
Michael Bloomberg 20/1
Mike Huckabee 33/1
Ron Paul 150/1

Democratic Candidate

Barack Obama 1/6
Hillary Clinton 7/2

Republican Candidate

John McCain 1/50
Mike Huckabee 14/1
Ron Paul 200/1

By ~dashofdaniel on deviantART

Artist's Comments:

A paraphrased quote on Microsoft's position on freedom. Microsoft hates the GNU GPL, and considers it to be a virus that infects everything it touches. The GNU GPL, and licences like it, preserve freedom. So logically, Microsoft hates freedom. This can be seen with the release of Windows Vista and all the delicious fun that OS has become to many who are now either switching back to XP, or getting off the Windows platform altogether. Microsoft also likes to use FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) to stop people using Linux, the only reason being that they would lose money. Before anyone goes and says I am dealing with Microsoft too harshly, or anyone else things that getting a Mac is the solution, I will tell you now that Apple is as rotten to the core as Microsoft is (pun intended).

Putin's Iron Grip on Russia Suffocates His Opponents - NY Times

Shortly before parliamentary elections in December, foremen fanned out across the sprawling GAZ vehicle factory here, pulling aside assembly-line workers and giving them an order: vote for President Vladimir V. Putin's party or else. They were instructed to phone in after they left their polling places. Names would be tallied, defiance punished.

Move Over, Oil, There's Money in Texas Wind - NY Times

The wind turbines that recently went up on Louis Brooks's ranch are twice as high as the Statue of Liberty, with blades that span as wide as the wingspan of a jumbo jet. More important from his point of view, he is paid $500 a month apiece to permit 78 of them on his land, with 76 more on the way.

Many more here.

I know, it's in bad taste, but that doesn't mean it's not funny!

And remember, please think of the kittens.  

The Satellite Shootdown: Behind the Scenes - US News & World Report

Capt. R. M. Hendrickson stepped across the deck of the guided missile cruiser USS Lake Erie last Saturday afternoon to a bank of ballistic missile launch tubes, motioning to the particular 2-by-2-foot location from which a missile flew from the ship positioned at the time some 420 miles northwest of Hawaii.

F.C.C. to Act on Delaying of Broadband Traffic - NY Times

The head of the Federal Communications Commission and other senior officials said on Monday that they were considering taking steps to discourage cable and telephone companies from discriminating against content providers as the broadband companies go about managing heavy Internet traffic that they say is clogging their networks.

Survey: Many Americans Switch Faith Identity - Washington Post

Forty-four percent of Americans have either switched their religious affiliation since childhood or dropped out of any formal religious group, according to the largest recent survey on American religious identification.

US to set 'binding' climate goals - BBC

The US is ready to accept "binding international obligations" on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, officials say, if other nations do the same.

Slowpoke by Jen Sorensen - 25 February 2008

 
Ann Telnaes - 25 February 2008

 
Dick Locher - 23 February 2008

 
Dwane Powell - 22 February 2008

What does he stand for, you ask?

What do I stand for? Just one thing: Linux. Oh yeah, and fish. I want to put a Linux computer in every home, every office, every garage, every hotel room... if there's a flat surface somewhere I want to put a Linux computer there. Oh yeah, and a fish in every pocket, so that nobody ever has to compute hungry ever again.

Tux For President

 
Ann Telnaes - 27 February 2008

And I think for myself also.

How To Be a Better BrowserCan a new filtering program cure the Web's information overload? - Slate

In a scant four years, the Internet, my beloved wellspring of information, has blown its top and become a geyser. Back in 2004, I heaped praise on an exciting new system called RSS. The "Really Simple Syndication" format promised to be TiVo for Web surfers - by automatically pulling content from all your favorite blogs and news sites, an RSS reader would make your Web surfing more fruitful and more efficient. While that prospect sounded enticing at the time, RSS has turned out to be more of a problem than a solution. As of this moment, I have 897 unread RSS items. I don't need a way to read more of the Net. I need a way to see less of it.

Yahoo sued by Chinese dissidents again - C|Net

Yahoo faces another lawsuit over its actions in China. Several Chinese men are suing the company and its Hong Kong subsidiary claiming they were harmed because of Yahoo's cooperation with the Chinese government.

The Internet, Politics and Power of the People - LinuxInsider

Forty-two percent of people 18 to 29 say they regularly learn about the campaign from the Internet, and 20 percent of those below 30 have gotten campaign information from social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook, according to a study by the Pew Research Center, a non-partisan organization studying social issues, attitudes and trends.

New supercomputer is a rack of PlayStations - The Sydney Morning Herald

When the PlayStation3 was released in November 2006, Gaurav Khanna's wife braved long queues so he could be one of the first people in the US to get his hands on the gaming console. But the astrophysicist was not itching to burn some rubber in Gran Turismo or shoot hoops in NBA 07. Instead he wanted to build his own supercomputer.

Record-High Ratio of Americans in Prison - Washington Post

More than one in 100 adults in the United States is in jail or prison, an all-time high that is costing state governments nearly $50 billion a year, in addition to more than $5 billion spent by the federal government, according to a report released today.

No impact from Energy Saving Day - BBC

The UK's first Energy Saving Day has ended with no noticeable reduction in the country's electricity usage. E-Day asked people to switch off electrical devices they did not need over a period of 24 hours, with the National Grid monitoring consumption.

In Norway, Global Seed Vault guards genetic resources - IHT

With plant species disappearing at an alarming rate, scientists and governments are creating a global network of plant banks to store seeds and sprouts - precious genetic resources that may be needed for man to adapt the world's food supply to climate change.