Unrelated, but yikes!
Puffer fish sold as salmon kills 15, sickens 115
Sony BMG information on settlement: http://www.sonybmgcdtechsettlement.com
IMdb Plot Outline: "Computer hacker Will Farmer (Lanter) engages a goverment super-computer named Ripley in an online terrorist-attack simulation game. Little does Farmer know that Ripley has been designed to appeal to potential terrorists, and certain glitches have turned made him become paranoid. "
Even worse, MGM is suing the owner of wargames.com.
lame.
For more on the Sony BMG litigation, see:
http://www.eff.org/IP/DRM/Sony-BMG/
EFF's open letter to Sony:
http://www.eff.org/IP/DRM/Sony-BMG/?f=open-letter-2005-11-14.html
One of the Internet's oldest and most famous virtual communities, which has been losing members since its glory days in the early 1990s, is up for sale.
The board of directors of Salon.com, which bought The Well in 1999, said this week it has authorized the sale of the online community and e-mail account provider.
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Read More / Source: News.com
http://www.pvponline.com/archive/2004/pvp20041112.gif
but i would like to see the red-blue-purply one here mapped to the 3D one ... where height = #votes..
It supports DirectX 9.0 features, reduced LCD latency, LCD-EE display engine which increase display quality at higher resolutions and Powerplay 5 which improved power management for longer battery life. Mobility Radeon X600 is available in 3 different versions: a discreet version for high-performance notebooks based on the new mobile graphics interface Axiom (Advanced eXpress IO Module) as well as 64 or 128MB integrated memory for thin and light based on the reliable MCM (Multi-Chip Module) technology.
ATi revealed that the first shipments of notebooks equipped with Mobility Radeon X600 will take place in July with volume ramping up later in the year. These notebooks will be featuring a desktop version of the PCI Express chipset from Intel, the 915P Express initially. As revealed recently, Intel has delayed the Sonoma platform containing the Alviso PCI Express chipset to first quarter of next year, initially slated for launch in Q4 this year. At this point of time, quite a number of notebook manufacturers are still in the sampling stage and we got hold of an early sample notebook from an OEM manufacturer for some quick testing. We are going to check out the graphics performance of Mobility Radeon X600 (128MB MCM) on this notebook and also the Mobility Radeon 9700 on a Acer Travelmate TM8005LMi, a Dothan based notebook.
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Read More/Source: VR-Zone
Download Links
Release Notes
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Source: ATI
The NV43 will be known as the Geforce 6600 from now on. There will be two versions - a 6600 standard and a 6600GT with a huge difference in clock speed.
It's an eight pipeline part like we suggested before and will be available in volume production in late September.
Just a few days now until this card appears and I was previously told that NV43, 6600 ? not Nokia, Geforce will be able to use SLI mode. For $199."
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Source: TheInquirer
The free upgrade won't be available to everyone right away, however. Microsoft said the timing will depend on several factors, including:
Customizing the fixes in 25 languages will take two months, the company said. English-language users will get the update earlier as Microsoft distributes it to computer manufacturers, companies and home users through downloads, free CDs and other means.
The upgrade, which Chairman Bill Gates said modifies less than 5 percent of the nearly 3-year-old operating system, is designed to make users safer from cyberattacks by sealing entries to viruses, better protecting personal data and fending off spyware.
For regular users, the most noticeable change will be a series of new prompts users will see. Users will be asked to actively give permission for programs to interact with their computers, so there is less chance they will be hit by a virus or inadvertently allow malicious software that can monitor computer activities.
Source: Yahoo News
What's New:
Changes in Windows XP SP2 Unattended
This page details the changes you may want to add to your Unattended XP CD if you have your copy of XPSP2 Final from WindowsBeta. The guide will be updated globally to SP2 status once XP SP2 is officially released to the public on Microsoft's download servers in the next coming days.
Homepage: MSFN's Official Unattended XP CD Guide
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Source: MSFN
"There have been a number of discussions on this newsgroup regarding whether SP2 will install on non-genuine (aka "pirated") versions of Windows. Here is the official Microsoft position on this topic:
We expect that nearly all Windows XP users, running genuine or pirated Windows, will have access to the security technologies in SP2. The same users that were blocked from installing SP1 - those that have used a small set of legacy pirated product keys - will be blocked from installing SP2. We believe that there are very few systems in use today that use these keys -- in other words, the pirates have moved on to other keys which we are not blocking.
So how do we charaterize our policy?
We want to make sure that the broadest number of people can install SP2. The nature of malicious attacks on computer users is constantly changing and we will continue to evaluate how we deal with security updates for pirated versions of Windows to best protect our genuine Windows customers.
Thanks,
Gary Schare
Microsoft"
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Source: MSFN
-Average and peak memory bandwidth;
-Average and minimal L1/L2 data cache/memory latency;
-L1/L2 data cache associativity;
-L1-L2 data cache bus bandwidth;
-D-TLB size and associativity (of each level);
-L1 instructions cache size (including the "effective" size) and associativity;
-Decode efficiency of various simple x86 (ALU/FPU/MMX) instructions;
-I-TLB size and associativity (of each level).
Download: cpu.rightmark.org
It's unclear so far whether the problem can be fixed or not.
“Market demand for the Intel Pentium 4 processor Extreme Edition supporting Hyper-Threading technology 3.20GHz with 800MHz processor system bus in mPGA478 packaging has shifted to higher performance Intel processors,” the company said it its statement sent to clients.
The last product discontinuance order date for the chip is 19th of November, 2004. Last shipping dates for the chips are February 18, 2005, and July 29, 2005, for boxed and tray versions respectively.
Intel Pentium 4 Extreme Edition 3.20GHz central processing unit is based on the server core known under Gallatin code-name is the first desktop processor from Intel Corp. delivering 2MB L3 cache. The decision to deploy a virtually server chip into desktop lineup was made after the company had to delay its powerful Prescott CPUs into Q1 2004 and necessity to compete with AMD’s high-performance Athlon 64 FX-51 product.
Intel recently accidentally unveiled plans to support powerful processors for Socket 478 platform for another while.
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Source: X-BitLabs
The software giant took an important step Friday when it released SP2 to manufacturing and promised the full release by month's end. Information security experts said it's worth the wait.
"There's no doubt it significantly enhances security, both for the generic end user and the higher-level enterprise administrator," said Bradley Dinerman, technical operations manager for Newton, Mass.-based IT management firm MIS Alliance Corp.
But they have no illusion the package will be installed on every enterprise network overnight; nor do they think it should be. Companies must test SP2 to see if it's compatible with other programs on their network and educate their users on all the new features.
"My advice to IT managers is to check with their vendors and make sure there are no conflicts between the programs they have and SP2," said Russ Cooper, senior scientist for Herndon, Va.-based security firm TruSecure. "Make sure the vendors say 'yes, our applications work with SP2.'"
SP2 is designed to make Windows XP more ironclad against attacks from the likes of Sasser, Dowload.ject and Mydoom. Its security features include turning on the Internet Connection Firewall (ICF) by default, closing ports except when they're in use and improving the firewall configuration interface. Other steps taken to improve security include recompiling core Windows components to make the OS more resilient to malware-induced buffer overruns and improving Internet Explorer controls and user interfaces to block malicious ActiveX controls and spyware.
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Source/Read More: Search Security
Preview:
"I'm sure that everyone is very familiar with the history of NVIDIA. They rose to the top of the PC graphics market, and then suddenly stumbled with its last generation of products, the NV30 series (aka Geforce 5800), and NVidia's first .13-micron part. At that time, due to lack of availability and poor performance results, a mutiny occurred and a lot of people jumped ship and went over to ATI. The NV30 was extremely late to market and, when it finally arrived, it couldn't keep pace with ATI's impressive Radeon 9700 chip. Amid all the coverage, a number of specific words have kept cropping up that described the GeForce FX 5800: dust buster and leaf blower. NVIDIA did a refresh of the NV30 with a series of NV30-derived GPUs that got relatively better over time compared to the competition (FX 5900). ATI retaliated and brought out there own refresh, the Radeon 9800."
Source: Bleedin Edge
Main Features
- Write CD-R, CD-RW DVD+R/RW DVD-R/RW discs (as Data, Video and Audio)
- Burn on the fly / Burn-proof
- Supports most IDE, USB, Firewire and SCSI drives
- Rip Audio-CDs to harddrive, obtain track-information (ID3-tags) from Internet
- Burn and create ISO-files
- Convert wav to mp3 and vice versa
- Audio Editor, bin/nrg->ISO converter, simple cover printing and much more!
Download: majorgeeks
First, open your doom3\base folder. Doubleclick on the pak000.pk4 file. In the "window can't open this file .. .bla bla" dialog, go on and associate the file with an app like WinRar. With this file open in WinRar, go to the glprogs directory in the file. In there you'll find the shaders. The interaction.vfp file seems to be the main rendering shader. Altering this shader to output a constant color turns most objects into that constant color, except for stuff like computer screens etc.
So doubleclick the interaction.vfp file to open it (you may have to associate the .vfp extension with a text editor like notepad or wordpad first since we're going to edit the file). Scroll down to the fragment shader. You'll find these rows:
Code:PARAM subOne = { -1, -1, -1, -1 };
PARAM scaleTwo = { 2, 2, 2, 2 };
Add this right below them:
Code:PARAM specExp = { 16, 0, 0, 0 };
Now scroll down to this:
Code:# perform a dependent table read for the specular falloff
TEX R1, specular, texture[6], 2D;
Comment out that line by adding a "#" to it, and add another line that will do the same thing with math instead, so it should look like this:
Code:# perform a dependent table read for the specular falloff
# TEX R1, specular, texture[6], 2D;
POW R1, specular.x, specExp.x;
Save the file and close your text editor. WinRar will ask if you want to update the file in the archive, select yes. Close WinRar and enjoy about 40% higher performance in Doom3. Haven't done extensive testing yet, but my performance went from 34fps in 1280x1024 to 48fps.
"Looking at all the temperatures the Prometeia users were getting, not to mention the overclocks they were getting, I could not help but feel jealous. As the high price-tag of the Prometeias made them out of my reach, I decided to go about building my own phase-change cooler... "
Offering a whole host of features designed to make Windows XP more secure, including a new firewall and security centre, the Service Pack has suffered countless delays during development.
It's not a small download either, with the ISO image on the MSDN site weighing in at 475.35MB. So don't go expecting to download it over that dial-up modem anytime soon.
It is expected that Microsoft will be releasing the software to their download centre tomorrow, at which point no doubt they will start experiencing rather heavy traffic. The software will also be available to order via CD soon, which will probably be the only option available to dial-up users.
With a whole host of updates and the potential to break users current applications, Service Pack 2 is a must have update for all users of Windows XP. Hopefully it will be able to reduce the number of serious virus outbreaks, but we fear that for all the fixes and updates to the Windows OS, there will still remain enough holes to keep the virus writers happy for some time."
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Source: IT Vibe
Doom 3 Discussion and tips
http://www.driverheaven.net/index.php?s=#article_15927
We have some great information being passed back and forward in our forums regarding tips and little tricks to enhance the performance of Doom3 - the somewhat disappointing FPS from ID.
if you head into this thread on our forums - you can discuss and compare findings -- along these lines (posted by mythical).
"To boost performance try this:
In your DOOM 3 directory, find "DoomConfig.cfg" (x:\Program Files\Doom 3\base). Open DoomConfig.cfg in Notepad. Find the line: "seta image_cacheMegs XX". Where XX is, try increasing this value in according to how much ram you have. I have 1 GB of ram, so I set it to 256, HUGE boost in framerate, game runs a lot smoother now. Try these values: 32, 96, 128, 256."
Taiwan graphics card makers respond positively to Nvidia price cuts
http://www.driverheaven.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=52430
Taiwan graphics card makers have responded positively to Nvidia’s recent price cuts for a range of its graphics chips, stating that the chipmaker’s move will help reduce their production costs and boost demand.
Nvidia recently cut prices about 10% on some of its graphics chips, with the mid- to high-end GeForce FX5700LE dropping to under US$40, the mainstream GeForce FX5200LE falling to under US$20 and the entry-level GeForce MX4408X and MX4000 dropping to US$12-13, according to sources at the makers.
Although the price cuts were part of Nvidia’s efforts to dress-up its quarterly revenues (the fiscal second quarter ended July 31), local makers have reportedly taken advantage by ordering more chips with the expectation that demand will pick up as the industry moves into its traditional peak season.
In related news, Nvidia has now added Biostar Microtech International to its client list. Nvidia will supply the Taiwan-based motherboard maker with its GeForce FX- and GeForce MX-series graphics chips.
Biostar aims to ship about 100,000 VGA cards a month, with a significant portion bundled with its motherboards and own-brand iDEQ mini barebone systems, according to sources at Biostar.
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Source: DigiTimes
Nintendo announces Metroid hardware bundle
http://www.driverheaven.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=52429
Nintendo has announced the upcoming release of a new GameCube hardware bundle this August that will revolve around the upcoming sequel to Metroid Prime. Dubbed the Metroid Prime Bonus Bundle, the hardware and software combo, due to hit stores August 15 for $99.99, will include a GameCube system, a copy of the original Metroid Prime, and a bonus disc that will include a playable demo of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, the upcoming sequel to 2003's critically acclaimed update of the popular Metroid franchise. In addition, the bonus disc will include an interactive history of the Metroid franchise called The Metroid Chronicle, two trailers for Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, and a Metroid Prime art gallery. The entire bundle will come packaged in Metroid-styled packaging.
The demo disc marks the first opportunity for consumers to try the upcoming Metroid Prime sequel, which is set to launch Nov. 15. The latest entry in the series will send heroine Samus Aran to explore the dual light and dark sides of the split-dimensional planet Aether. The first-person adventure will feature a number of new gameplay elements, including new power-ups, a new ammo system, and special suit upgrades, as well as the return of Samus' trusty screw attack. The game will also include a multiplayer mode--a first for the series--that will let up to four players battle against each other using all of Samus’ unique powers and abilities.
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Read More/Source: Gamespot
Intel to introduce dual-core processors ahead of schedule
http://www.driverheaven.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=52428
Intel plans to unveil a dual-core processor, codenamed Smithfield, in mid-2005 instead of sometime in 2006, as originally planned, according to sources at Taiwan motherboard makers.
Intel plans to roll out three versions of the Smithfield processor. One version will be targeted for the performance segment and will be supported by the Glenwood chipset. Two mainstream versions will be supported by the Lakeport chipset, the sources noted.
The Smithfield processors will be resident in socket LGA-775, currently in use on Intel 915/925 motherboards. This will limit the impact on motherboard makers as they move to the new platform, the sources explained. Motherboard makers have welcomed this move by Intel, the sources added.
The Smithfield dual-core processors will be built using a 90nm process.
The first dual-core processor from Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), for the desktop, codenamed Toledo, is slated for launch in the second half of 2005.
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Source: DigiTimes
Creative revels in 'outstanding' Q4
http://www.driverheaven.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=52418
For the whole year, Creative's sales of MP3 players and audio accessories totalled $814.9m up 16 per cent from 2003's $701.8m. Net income rose 68 per cent year on year from $29.4m (36 cents a share) to $49.4m (59 cents a share) on the back of improved margins and cost-control.
Investment gains, a tax write-back and other one-offs took 2004's income to $134.2m (161 cents a share), compared to 2003's $23.4m (29 cents a share).
Looking ahead, Creative said it expects its current quarter, Q1 2005, to yield year-on-year revenue growth of 25-30 per cent to $200-210m. With gross margins anticipated at around 32 per cent, plus $60-62m in operating expenses, Creative reckons Q1 should yield earnings of six cents a share.
more here
Doom 3: CPU Battlegrounds
http://www.driverheaven.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=52456
When does Doom 3 Need a Fast CPU?
We know by now that the GPU requirements of Doom 3 are quite high; the days of ultra high resolutions bringing us triple digit frame rates on mid range cards are gone with Doom 3, even cards like the Radeon 9800 Pro are best played at resolutions as low as 800x600. But is a fast GPU all you need to get the most out of Doom 3?
Remember that while your GPU will handle all of the rendering of the scenes in Doom 3, it is the CPU that handles all of the physics, artificial intelligence and 3D setup for sending vertex data to your GPU. So in order to get the most out of a fast GPU, you will also need to pair it up with a fast CPU - but how fast? The basic rule of thumb is this: the faster your GPU is, the faster your CPU will have to be to keep up with it.
Let's take the GeForce 6800 Ultra for example; as you've already seen, the GeForce 6 series is the fastest set of GPUs for running Doom 3, making it an ideal reference point for our discussion.
Below we have a graph of frame rate vs. resolution taken on a Pentium 4 Extreme Edition running at 3.4GHz with a GeForce 6800 Ultra running at 400MHz core/1.1GHz mem. The curve on the graph is what you'll want to pay attention to. If the graph were perfectly flat, as in there was no drop from 640x480 up to 1600x1200, our test system would be completely CPU limited (or bound by something other than the GPU). On the flip side, if the graph showed a clearly negative slope then we would have a much more GPU limited scenario, where the burden of rendering more pixels was not masked by an overly slow CPU.
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Source/Read More: AnandTech
driverheaven: Microsoft Longhorn Reinvents Desktop Graphics
http://www.driverheaven.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=52455
Microsoft's Meltdown conference is all about building games on Windows. Originally started as a compatibility test-fest for hardware makers and software developers, the event has matured into a Windows game developer convention. Highlights from this year's gathering, held July 27th and 28th in Seattle, included presentations about the company's XNA development tools and how to get the most out of Direct3D and DirectSound.
One of the more exciting parts of the conference was a talk entitled "DX Futures," where the Redmond software giant went over some of the architectural details of Longhorn's graphics architecture, which have some big in changes in store for Direct3D.
During the event, David Blythe of the DirectX development team gave a very interesting talk about the upcoming 3D graphics architecture in Longhorn, the next major revision of Windows. Called Windows Graphics Foundation (WGF), this new architecture will usher in some major changes to how 3D graphics operations get handled by Longhorn. These changes extend well beyond Longhorn's Avalon technology, which will render the Windows Desktop using a GPU's 3D graphics processing power rather than the traditional 2D blitter. WGF will instead define the core 3D operations themselves.
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Source/Read More: Extreme Tech
Neverwinter Nights 2 Announced
http://www.driverheaven.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=52451
Atari today announced Neverwinter Nights 2, a sequel to the title originally developed by BioWare. This one will be in development at Obsidian Entertainment with BioWare will provide the tools, technology and the game assets from the original Neverwinter Nights while oversighting the whole process. The game is scheduled for release in 2006 and it will be publised by Atari. Press 'read more' for the full press release.
Source: gamershell
I personally have little desire to see his propaganda as I've found him to be quite pompous and his-sided; the main purpose being to cause controversy under the guise of purportedly being a documentaries. I have a .. strong disliking of people who's main objective is simply to be weird/cause controversy, esp. to get attention (media or otherwise).
The quote from Orwell near the end is interesting too.
Before you go thinking this guy is a "Rush Limbaugh", he does claim to be "on the left" and wrote a short anti-Reagan piece those of you anti-Reagan will probably enjoy: Not Even a Hedgehog - The stupidity of Ronald Reagan; but does wonder about the "left".
I guess it is refreshing to see some thinking going on.. versus a lot of what I find typical of many "liberals" (esp. college "activist" ones) . The MY view is right, your view is vastly WRONG and if you don't agree with me, you're not being "open-minded" (like me) mentality. A lot of, let me see what the "conservatives" are saying and go completely the opposite direction without thought (because, by default, if that is their view, then it must be wrong and mine Must therefore be opposite that) and find some tunnel-visioned "facts", ignoring much of anything else that might cause me to think, that will help me convince myself to support my own "decision".. (e.g., the recent media's apparent ignoring of Putin's statement).
Russian intelligence operatives, still swarming the world, picked up and reported Saddam Hussein's plot to strike the U.S. mainland and facilities abroad. Vladimir Putin said last week he warned President Bush about the coming attack before the Iraq war.
Only ABC broadcast Putin's refutation of liberal claims. Why? What does it mean when confirmation that Saddam was preparing to strike the United States with terrorism is ignored in favor of the pretense that Baghdad was not a terrorist threat and the war therefore was based on lies?
Read "Ignoring Putin's revelation" in the Washington Times .
And Blizzard is is still patching StarCraft ! (v1.11b)
Sony's going to stop selling Clie's in the US .. :-\
although.. the sodium tends to be rather high in most miso soups.
Now how about those folks that send you a "bill" for your domain ... only.. it's not really a bill, it just looks like one so you'll pay it.. and then they get money and THEN they'll register/transfer your domain.. OR they'll add your domain to their "search engine database". at least.. i'm assuming they'll do anything after they get your money.
FROM: SIPRI Yearbook 2002 (Zanders, J. P., Hart, J. and Kuhlau, F., ‘Chemical and
biological weapon developments and arms control’, chapter 12, p. 705)
Full
text available at URL http://projects.sipri.se/cbw/research/cbw-yb2002.pdf
Iraq’s CBW programmes and their elimination
There is serious concern about the status of Iraq’s CBW programmes. In 2001 the US DOD reported that Iraq may be reconstituting its CBW capability.[380] A January 2001 press report quoted allegations by senior US government officials that Iraq had rebuilt several factories for the production of CBW in an industrial complex in al-Fallujah, west of Baghdad.[381]
When the inspections by UNSCOM ended in December 1998 there were many unresolved questions regarding Iraq’s CBW programmes.[382] The UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) succeeded UNSCOM in 1999, but as of January 2002 it had not yet conducted any inspections inside Iraq. UNMOVIC nonetheless continues to prepare for such inspections should Iraq allow the return of international inspectors.[383] The UN Security Council also placed Iraq under an international sanctions regime in order to compel it to comply with the conditions of Resolution 687, which includes the destruction of its CBW and the termination of the CBW-related programmes under international supervision.[384] In November 2001 the Security Council extended the sanctions regime, which had previously been modified in an attempt to gain Iraqi cooperation.[385] Earlier, UNMOVIC revised and refined the list of items and materials whose transfer to Iraq is controlled.[386]
Republicans Want Terror Law Made Permanent
GOP wants to keep anti-terror powers / Broad spying tools would become permanent
/.
And maybe a bit of bad news for those of you who like to burn candles... (it's actually good news, but bad news that it's taken them 30 friggin' years): U.S. Goverment Bans Lead in Candle Wicks CPSC: CPSC Bans Candles With Lead-Cored Wicks
And for you bloggers out there (or if you're thinking about it).. If you find the MT (or other blog's) web form is a little too basic for you, you might check out w.bloggar. I usually just pop up my text editor or mozilla's Composer (since i usually have mozilla running anyway).. type/code it up, copy-n-paste, and post.
Also check out The Screen Saver's page (where i heard of/saw (on TV) w.bloggar)
100 million copyproof CDs sold?
Greenspan: Innovation Needs Balanced Help
Amazon signs search deal with Google
50 Million Historical Documents Hit Web
Complex found bulging with food in hungry city (Basra, Iraq)
The minister also said that coalition forces were throwing booby traps in the form of pens and pencils into Iraqi villages and townships. "The authority of the civil defense ... issued a warning to the civilian population not to pick up any of those pencils because they are booby traps," he said, adding that the British and American forces were "immoral mercenaries" and "war criminals" for such behavior. "I am not talking about the American people and the British people," he said. "I am talking about those mercenaries. ... They have started throwing those pencils, but they are not pencils, they are booby traps to kill the children."yeah.. we wouldn't want people to learn how to read and write and figure out what to do with pens and pencils.
