Upgrading RAM? Save your old RAM and your packaging

Besides installing an SSD to replace a mechanical hard drive, RAM upgrades are one of the more significant and beneficial upgrades you can do for a PC system. When it comes to Apple's systems, however, RAM upgrades from Apple itself have been insanely expensive, so my recommendation has always been, unless the RAM is soldered to the motherboard (as it is with the
MacBook Air and Retina
MacBook Pro), to purchase only the base amount of RAM and then upgrade it yourself later on.

Such was the case with my most recent
Mac, a 17-inch 2011 MacBook Pro that I purchased with a mere 4GB of RAM to avoid the additional $200 Apple was asking for the upgrade to 8GB. (Apple has since adjusted its prices, though they are still quite high.) Instead, I opted to purchase a third-party 16GB Mushkin RAM upgrade for around $130, getting far more memory at less expense.

The RAM arrived and installed without a hitch, and passed Apple's Hardware Test suite and other RAM testing routines with flying colors. After performing such an upgrade, you are left with the older RAM modules that are essentially useless to the system. In some cases manufacturers offer a trade-in program for your old memory, or you may be tempted to sell the memory on eBay, give it away, or simply toss it. My recommendation is to at least keep your old RAM modules, but preferably also keep your new RAM's packaging and receipts.

Even though in most cases RAM upgrades that pass hardware testing will work just fine for the lifetime of the computer, there are occasions when a problem can be introduced that will escalate over time and result in complete system failure.

It started with a crash
After having the Mushkin RAM in my system for nine months, often using it to its full capacity, I ran into a single kernel panic a couple of weeks ago that, upon restarting, suggested a problem with some third-party kernel extensions for VirtualBox in the system. Since problems with kernel extensions are often the cause for such crashes, I uninstalled VirtualBox and removed these and other extensions that weren't in use. For awhile the problem seemed better, but a few days later the system took a downward spiral. While it would boot just fine, occasionally it would switch off and restart, or hang upon waking from sleep and require a forced reboot. These behaviors became more frequent, but still happened only a few times over the space of a week so were somewhat tolerable.

The final stage of the problem began when the system automatically restarted but then would not boot, and instead output three loud beeps (with corresponding flashes of the of the power LED) that repeated indefinitely. These signals are Apple's indicator that something is very wrong with the hardware of the system, the three beeps translating to bad RAM that cannot be used. Forcing the system to power off and back on resulted in it booting again; however, a little later it crashed again, this time remaining at the hardware failure tones. It was dead.

It felt like the system had just sipped from the wrong cup in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," and was withering before my eyes.

Granted, the three beeps indicated a problem with the RAM itself, but the most reliable way to test this is to install working RAM modules and see if the system boots without issue. Until that's determined, however, it's possible that a deeper problem could be at play. Of course not having Apple's "AppleCare" protection plan made the potential costs of this issue a cause for significant worry. Not only might the repairs be expensive, but Apple no longer makes my beloved 17-inch MacBook Pro system, should the issue be costly enough to require a new computer -- doubtful, but understandably that's one of the scenarios going through one's mind in a situation like this.

Repercussions and remedy
Luckily, instead of getting rid of the original RAM after the upgrade, I had stored it in a safe place, which ended up being the savior of the day. Replacing the Mushkin RAM with the original RAM resulted in a solid boot and a stable system that has been running fine ever since. The fix took minutes instead of hours waiting for local stores to open (and likely sell RAM at a premium), or to take the system to Apple. To me, option of getting back up and running was worth far more than the price of the trade-in. For this reason, I recommend that if you have upgraded your RAM, to keep your old modules as a backup just in case something goes awry.

Also, when you purchase new RAM it comes in molded plastic packaging. This is ideal for securely storing your old modules, ensuring they stay dust-free and are not subject to physical damage.

Finally, should you find yourself in this predicament, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Most RAM manufacturers guarantee their products for life, which means that if it happens to you, you'll likely be able to arrange a replacement at minimal cost. You'll probably need your original proof of purchase for such an exchange, so print it out and store it with the old RAM so you have a one-stop fall-back-and-replacement package available.

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More details about Newtown school gunman emerge

NEWTOWN, Conn. -- Like a lot of people who interacted with Lanza, Dot Stansy said he was "just quiet"

Adam Lanza.

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AP Photo

"On one side, he did something unspeakable, but on the other, that's not how I remember him," Stansy said. "I remember him as the nice kid that, you know, I sat near to in class. We'd joked, he'd laugh, that kind of thing."

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"We were all hanging out outside of class afterwards one night, and he walked by and we were like, 'Hey, do you want to grab a drink with us?' And he said, 'No, I can't, I'm 17.'"

Lanza was also being home-schooled at the time.

He took seven college-level courses between the summers of 2008 and 2009, receiving several As in computer classes and also one in American history. His overall GPA was 3.26.

Dot Stasny remembers meeting Adam Lanza's mother.

"[She] introduced herself, said he was sick, asked where the classroom was, and when we walked in, she was getting his assignments from the teacher," Stansy said.

Nancy Lanza's friends, told CBS News' Scott Pelley on "60 Minutes" that she told them Adam had Asperger's syndrome and taking care of him was a full-time job.

Ryan Kraft

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CBS News

"I mean, I know he was on he was on medication and everything, but she home-schooled him at home cause he couldn't deal with the school classes sometimes," Louise said. "So she just home-schooled Adam at home. And that that was her life."

Ryan Kraft, who babysat for the Lanza's when Adam was just about 10 years old, got a glimpse of how difficult he could be.

"I received instructions from Nancy to always supervise Adam at all times and to never turn my back on him," Kraft said.

Adam Lanza's parent divorced in 2009. CBS News spoke to a mediator in that divorce, who said his parents seemed to love him and only wanted the best for him.

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Newtown Boy Remembered as 'Old Soul'

Dec 17, 2012 6:02pm

Family of Daniel Barden, who died in the Connecticut school shootings. From left, his brother James, 12, and his parents, Mark and Jackie. (Image Credit: ABC)

Though he was only in first grade, Daniel Barden was very much an “old soul,” his family said today.  He was one of the 20 children who died Friday at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

At the age of 4, he displayed an empathy for others remarkable for a child so young.  It didn’t go unnoticed — teachers chose Daniel to be paired with a special education student at his school.

PHOTOS: Connecticut Shooting Victims

His mother, Jackie Barden, said she was always struck by “how unusual he was.”

“Our neighbors always said, ‘He’s like an old soul,’” Barden said during an interview on “Katie.”

He carried that kindness with him as he got older.

“He would hold doors open for adults all the time,” said his father, Mark Barden.

He laughed, remembering the times he’d be “halfway” across a parking lot and see his son still holding a door for strangers.

“Our son had so much love to give to this world,” Barden said. “He was supposed to have a whole lifetime of bringing that light to the world.”

Complete Coverage: Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting

Daniel had two older siblings, James, age 12, and Natalie, age 10, who doted on their little brother.

“He was just so sweet and kind and thoughtful,” James said.

On Friday, 7-year-old Daniel, who was one of the 20 young victims at Sandy Hook Elementary School, woke up early.  He played foosball with his mother.

As usual, Daniel won, she said. The score was 10 to 8.

His father also taught him how to play “Jingle Bells” on the piano that morning.

“We did a lot in that half hour,” he said.

A celebration of Daniel’s life will be held Tuesday at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church. A funeral is scheduled for Wednesday.

SHOWS: Good Morning America

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Clinton gets accountability report on Benghazi attacks

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday received an official review of the September attack on a U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, setting the stage for testimony on an incident that prompted a political furor and sharp questions about security at U.S. diplomatic facilities overseas.

The State Department said Clinton - who is convalescing after suffering a concussion last week - received the report from the Accountability Review Board formed to probe the attack which killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.

"The ARB has completed its work. Its report has gone to the secretary this morning. She now has it," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

The committee has been meeting in private and State Department officials have declined to discuss almost all specifics of the Benghazi attack pending its reports.

The findings are expected to cover questions on whether enough attention was given to potential threats and how Washington responded to security requests from U.S. diplomats in Libya.

A determination that top State Department officials turned down those requests, as Republican congressional investigators allege, could refuel criticism of the officials - and possibly even end the careers of some of them.

Clinton had been expected to testify to Congress on December 20 on the report's results, but is under doctors' orders to remain at home this week.

Deputy Secretary William Burns and Deputy Secretary Thomas Nides will testify in her stead at Thursday's open hearings of the Senate and House foreign affairs committees, Nuland said.

Prior to that, the Accountability Review Board's two leaders - retired Ambassador Thomas Pickering and retired chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Michael Mullen - will testify in closed door hearings of the two committees on Wednesday, she said.

POLITICAL FALLOUT

The political uproar over the September 11 Benghazi attack has already claimed one victim.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice, widely tipped as a front-runner to replace Clinton when she steps down as secretary of state early next year, last week withdrew her name from consideration, saying she wished to avoid a potentially disruptive Senate confirmation process.

Republican lawmakers had blasted Rice for televised comments she made in the aftermath of the attack in which she said preliminary information suggested the assault was the result of protests over an anti-Muslim video made in California rather than a premeditated strike.

Rice has said she was relying on talking points drawn up by U.S. intelligence officials.

Nuland said the final report could contain both classified and unclassified sections, and that only the latter would be made publicly available.

Central questions raised include why the ambassador was in such an unstable part of Libya on the anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and the Pentagon.

The five-person independent board usually includes retired ambassadors, a former CIA officer and a member of the private sector. It has the power to issue subpoenas, and members are required to have appropriate security clearances to review classified information.

Nuland said that Clinton - who intends to step down toward the end of January when President Barack Obama is sworn in for his second term - was "on the mend" following her concussion, which occurred when she fell as a result of dehydration due to a stomach virus.

She added that Clinton remained open to discussing the attack with lawmakers herself next month.

"She looks forward to continuing to engage with them in January and she will be open to whatever they consider appropriate in that regard," Nuland said. (Editing by Warren Strobel and Mohammad Zargham)

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Ghosts of presidents past haunt S.Korea vote

SEOUL: South Koreans choose a new leader on Wednesday in an election shadowed by the ghosts of two dead presidents -- the assassinated dictator Park Chung-Hee and the left-wing Roh Moo-Hyun, who took his own life.

The ballot is a face-off between Park's daughter, Park Geun-Hye of the ruling conservative party, and Roh's former chief of staff and close friend Moon Jae-In of the liberal opposition party.

The spectral presence of the two former presidents -- and the powerful emotions they still provoke -- means that the election will, in part, amount to a vote on the legacy of both men.

Park Chung-Hee is probably the most polarising figure in South Korea's history -- either admired for leading the country out of poverty or reviled for the iron-fisted way he did so during 18 years of tough military rule.

He was shot dead by his spy chief in 1979.

Roh, a former human rights lawyer, promised a new start when he came to power in 2003 but his administration ended chaotically five years later -- his party racked by scandal and infighting and his economic reforms shelved.

Fifteen months after leaving office, Roh committed suicide as a corruption investigation closed in on his family.

Moon and Park have fought the campaign over key issues such as economic reform, social welfare and job security. But in the public perception, they are both seen through the prism of their links to the former leaders.

"Park is the daughter of the symbol of Korean conservatism, while Moon is really the political alter ego of the symbol of Korean progressivism," said Hahm Chai-Bong, president of the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul.

The last opinion polls allowed before polling day suggested that the race for the presidential Blue House could be extremely close, with Moon having eroded the small but clear lead enjoyed by Park for most of the campaign.

Park has pushed herself as the leader capable of reviving a slowing economy, while Moon has vowed to tackle concerns over the country's growing wealth gap.

With the liberal camp squarely behind Moon and the conservatives united in supporting Park, the winner will be the candidate who can win over the undecideds -- many of them in their 40s -- who are concerned about both social equality and economic growth.

In order to woo that demographic, the two candidates have moved slightly to the centre and, in so doing, sought to place some distance between themselves and their ghostly shadows.

In Moon's case, this meant publicly acknowledging the failings of the Roh administration and, in particular, its mishandling of the economy.

Park's effort was far more dramatic.

In a strongly Confucian society that emphasises filial respect, she publicly acknowledged the excesses of her father's regime and apologised to families of its victims.

"Essentially what we saw was the daughter and figurative son of these leaders forced to recant for some of the wrongdoings of their biological and political parents," Hahm said.

Moon and Roh had shared a law practice together before the latter became president, and had focused on defending the rights of pro-democracy activists protesting against Park's military rule.

Moon himself was briefly jailed and used that experience to attack Park right from the outset of his campaign.

"While I was suffering from poverty, she was living like a princess in the Blue House," he told reporters back in June. "She was at the centre of dictatorship when I fought against dictatorship."

Park left the presidential palace after her father was assassinated and began her political career in 1998 as a lawmaker in her home town.

- AFP/ck

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SpongeBob disappears from app store after privacy criticism

SpongeBob Diner Dash was pulled from Apple's app store after a complaint was filed claiming it violated children's online privacy.

(Credit:
Nickelodeon)

Anyone wanting to download the SpongeBob Diner Dash game from Apple's
iTunes app store today is out of luck.

Nickelodeon has removed the app from the store after an advocacy group filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission alleging the game violated children's online privacy rights by collecting their e-mail addresses without parents' permission.

According to the Center for Digital Democracy, which filed the complaint earlier today, cable network Nickelodeon and mobile game-maker PlayFirst are misleadingly marketing the game and are violating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

SpongeBob Diner Dash is a free app marketed to children, in which popular cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants must "seat, serve and satisfy even the squirmiest of patrons" and cater to the greedy Mr. Krabs.

Apparently, the game is collecting users' e-mail addresses with promises of sending them a future newsletter. It does not ask for a home address or phone number. According to the New York Times, the app description said it gathered "personal user data as well as nonpersonal user data" and "user data collection is in accordance with applicable law, such as COPPA."

However, the Center for Digital Democracy says that the app does not provide "notice to parents or obtain prior parental consent, as required by the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act." Technically, COPPA only applies to children under 13 years old, so many app makers get around this issue by saying they're targeting older children.

The Center for Digital Democracy's complaint comes on the heels of a FTC report on mobile apps for children that was published last week. The report states that there is "little or no" privacy information available to parents from app vendors or in the
Android Google Play and Apple iOS app stores. It also found that "only 20 percent of the apps staff reviewed disclosed any information about the app's privacy practices."

The complaint filed by the Center for Digital Democracy with the FTC will probably not have any legal affect since the FTC does not have processes to file lawsuits. Instead, the complaint acts as letter that is urging the commission to investigate the privacy practices of the SpongeBob Diner Dash game.

"The FTC [needs to] take action to ensure that all companies targeting mobile apps to kids are complying with the law," attorney Laura Moy at Georgetown Law's Institute for Public Representation, which prepared the complaint on behalf of the Center for Digital Democracy, said in a statement.

This isn't the first complaint regarding a children's game that the advocacy group has lodged with the FTC. Last week, the game Mobbles was pulled from both the Apple App and
Google Android Play stores after the Center for Digital Democracy filed a similar complaint with the FTC. According to the advocacy group, the geolocation game in which children collect and care for virtual pets, also collected e-mail addresses without parental consent.

CNET contacted Nickelodeon for comment. We'll update the story when we get more information.

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Newtown church evacuated after phone threat

NEWTOWN, Conn. Police say there's no danger at a Connecticut church following a phoned-in threat days after 20 children and six adults were massacred at a school.

Deborah Metz, a Trumbull police officer on the scene, gave the all-clear after an hour in which armed police in SWAT gear searched the St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church and adjacent buildings.

The evacuation unnerved worshipers in the wake of the worst shooting of school-age children in U.S. history.

19 Photos

Victims of Conn. school shooting

Brian Wallace, director of communications for Diocese of Bridgeport, said people were asked to leave shortly after the call came in during the homily.

To interrupt people trying to heal, Wallace said, is a very "tragic and difficult thing."

The St. Rose school, church and rectory were all searched. The police said they feel "very comfortable" that everything is secure.

Since Friday's shooting, the church has been open 24 hours for people to come and pray. Police say the church will be on lockdown for the rest of the day.

Wallace said the church should reopen tomorrow.

Shooter Adam Lanza, his mother and eight of the child victims attended St. Rose of Lima. It is a Roman Catholic Church with an adjacent school, which Lanza attended briefly.

It will be the site of funerals for eight of the murdered children, and possibly one of the teachers, sources told CBS News.

Anna Wood, who was inside the church, described the scene as "surreal" to CBS News.

Wood said she was from Oxford, Conn., but came to St. Rose because of the shooting, and said the church was packed, including children.

She said no one seemed scared as they left the church, and that one boy who asked why people were asked to leave was told they were in recess.

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Obama Offers Newtown 'Love and Prayers of a Nation'

President Obama told the grieving community of Newtown, Conn., that the nation has wept with them for the loss of 20 children and six teachers and school staff members killed in a senseless massacre.

Grim-faced, Obama took the stage at Newtown High School auditorium to speak at a memorial service for the first graders, teachers, principal and other school staff members killed Friday by 20-year-old Adam Lanza at the Sandy Hook Elementary School.

"I come to offer the love and prayers of a nation," the president said. "I am very mindful that mere words cannot match the depths of your sorrow nor can they heal your wounded hearts. I can only hope it helps to know you are not alone ... and that all across this land we have wept with you."

The memorial service had been delayed nearly an hour as Obama met with families of the victims -- 20 first graders and six adults -- in classrooms of the high school, but the audience sat patiently awaiting the service.

The president walked in shortly before 8 p.m., gave a brief wave to the room full of parents, friends and neighbors, before taking a seat in the first row.

He was greeted with a standing ovation as he the auditorium, and quickly took his seat in the first row to await his turn to speak in the interfaith memorial service.

Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

President Obama: 'Newtown You Are Not Alone' Watch Video

Sandy Hook Elementary Shooting: Remembering the Victims Watch Video

"We needed this. We needed to be together, here in this room, in the gymnasium, outside the doors of this school, in living rooms around the world, we needed to be together to show that we are together and united," said Rev. Matt Crebbin, senior minister of the Newtown Congregational Church, who opened the ceremony.

CLICK HERE for full coverage of the tragedy at the elementary school.

"We gather in such a moment of heartbreak for all of us in Newtown," he said. "We gather esp mindful of family and friends and neighbors among us who have lost loved ones by an act of unfathomable violence and destruction.

"These darkest days of our community shall not be the final word heard from us," he said

Tragedy struck the small town Friday when Adam Lanza broke into the elementary school with a semiautomatic rifle and two handguns, and then killed 20 first graders and six school staff members before committing suicide as police arrived on the scene.

CLICK HERE to read about the 'hero teacher,' the principal and 20 children who lost their lives.

The audience showed no signs of impatience, despite the delayed start. They sat quietly until a group of state police arrived at the already packed high school auditorium, but then stood to give the police a standing ovation and hugs.

A short time later more police arrived, and were also greeted with applause and hugs.

Assuming a consoling role that has become all too familiar for this presidency, Obama will also privately meet with some of the families affected by the tragic shooting, as well as local first responders.

The president has witnessed five mass shootings since assuming office in 2009, his reaction to this most recent tragedy in New England being his most publicly emotional. On Friday, tears collected in his eyes as he addressed the nation after the tragedy.

"The majority of those who died today were children, beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years old," the president said, pausing to collect himself. "They had their entire lives ahead of them -- birthdays, graduations, weddings, kids of their own."

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Japan's next PM Abe must deliver on economy, cope with China

TOKYO (Reuters) - Conservative ex-premier Shinzo Abe will get a second chance to lead Japan after his Liberal Democratic Party surged back to power in Sunday's election, but he must move swiftly to bolster a sagging economy and manage strained ties with China to avoid the fate of his short-lived predecessors.

Abe, whose party won by a landslide just three years after a crushing defeat, is due to meet the leader of its small ally on Monday to cement their alliance and confirm economic steps to boost an economy now in its fourth recession since 2000.

The victory by the LDP, which had ruled Japan for most of the past 50 years before it was ousted in 2009, will usher in a government pledged to a tough stance in a territorial row with China, a pro-nuclear energy policy despite the 2011 Fukushima disaster and a potentially risky recipe for hyper-easy monetary policy and big fiscal spending to boost growth.

Projections by TV broadcasters showed that the LDP had won at least 294 seats in the 480-member lower house, while its ally the New Komeito party took 31 seats.

That gives them a two-thirds majority needed to overrule parliament's upper house in most matters. Since 2007, successive governments have been hamstrung by a "twisted parliament" where ruling coalitions lacked control over the upper house, which could block most legislation.

While investors have already pushed the yen lower and share prices higher in anticipation of an LDP victory and Abe's economic stimulus, the "super majority" drove the yen to a 20-month low against the U.S. dollar as far as 84.48.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei opened up 1.6 pct on Monday, hitting a high of more than eight months.

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) was crushed. It was forecast to win 57 seats -- less than a fifth of its showing in 2009, when it swept to power promising to pay more heed to consumers than companies and pry control of policies from bureaucrats.

But voters felt the DPJ failed to live up to those pledges and the party was hit by defections before the vote due to Noda's unpopular plan to raise the sales tax to curb public debt, which is already more than twice the size of the economy.

"This was an overwhelming rejection of the DPJ," said Gerry Curtis, a professor at New York's Columbia University. That sentiment was echoed in Japanese media.

"In a word, rather than a huge victory for the LDP, this election was a massive defeat for the Democrats," the Nikkei business daily said in an editorial.

Analyst Bruce Klingner of the Heritage Foundation think tank in Washington agreed, but said it "also reflects an embrace of conservative views" after strained relations with Japan's neighbors in recent years.

"Chinese assertiveness and North Korean provocations nudged the public from its usual post-war complacency toward a new desire to stand up for Japanese sovereignty," he said.

However, that did not mean the Japanese were embracing a return to militarism, added Klingner, a former CIA analyst.

LOW TURNOUT

Abe, expected to be voted in by parliament on December 26, will also have to prove he has learned from the mistakes of his first administration, plagued by scandals and charges of incompetence.

Voter distaste for both major parties has spawned a clutch of new parties, including the Japan Restoration Party founded by popular Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, which took 54 seats according to media projections.

Media estimates also showed turnout at around 59 percent, which could match the previous post-war low.

LDP leader Abe, 58, who quit as premier in 2007 citing ill health, has been talking tough in a row with China over uninhabited isles in the East China Sea, although some experts say he may temper his hard line with pragmatism once in office.

The soft-spoken grandson of a prime minister, who will become Japan's seventh premier in six years, Abe also wants to loosen the limits of a 1947 pacifist constitution on the military so Japan can play a bigger global security role.

President Barack Obama congratulated Abe and underlined U.S. interest in working with the longstanding American ally.

"The U.S-Japan Alliance serves as the cornerstone of peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific and I look forward to working closely with the next government and the people of Japan," he said in a statement.

Abe, who visited China first during his first term, said he would start off this time by going to Washington.

The LDP, which promoted nuclear energy during its decades-long reign, is expected to be friendly to power utilities, although deep public concerns remain over safety.

Abe has called for "unlimited" monetary easing and big spending on public works to rescue the economy. Such policies, a centerpiece of the LDP's platform for decades, have been criticized by many as wasteful pork-barrel politics.

Jiji news agency said previous LDP Prime Minister Taro Aso, 72, could be tapped as finance minister and deputy premier. He launched massive economic stimulus packages to fight the impact of the 2008-2009 global financial crisis but was dogged by policy flipflops and gaffes.

Many economists say that prescription for "Abenomics" could create temporary growth that would allow the government to proceed with a planned initial sales tax rise in 2014 to help curb public debt.

But it looks unlikely to cure deeper ills or bring sustainable growth to Japan's ageing society, and risks triggering a market backlash if investors decide Japan has lost control of its finances.

(Editing by Tomasz Janowski and Paul Tait)

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Actor Depardieu 'giving up French passport' in tax row

PARIS: France's leading actor Gerard Depardieu said Sunday he is giving up his French passport after the prime minister called him "pathetic" for seeking to avoid taxes by moving to Belgium.

In an open letter to Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, the 63-year-old "Cyrano de Bergerac" and "Jean de Florette" film star said he had been treated unfairly after years of supporting France, and paying millions of euros in taxes.

"I am not asking to be approved of, but I could at least be respected.

"All of those who have left France have not been insulted as I have been," he said in the letter published in the weekly newspaper "Le Journal du Dimanche".

Depardieu has joined some of France's wealthiest business figures in Belgium following moves by President Francois Hollande's Socialist government to tax annual incomes above one million euros ($1.3 million) at 75 percent.

In the letter, Depardieu, who has extensive business interests including wine estates and three Paris restaurants, accused the Socialists of driving France's most talented figures out of the country.

"I am leaving because you consider that success, creation, talent, anything different, must be punished," he said.

Depardieu said that over 45 years of working and running businesses in France he had paid 145 million euros to state coffers.

"At no time have I failed in my duties. The historic films in which I took part bear witness to my love of France and its history," Depardieu said.

He started working at the age of 14 and never claimed social security, the star added.

"Who are you to judge me in this way?" he asked Ayrault.

Ayrault's comments came after it emerged that Depardieu had taken up residence in Nechin, a tiny village just over the border in Belgium, which is a favoured spot for wealthy French nationals avoiding tax.

"I find it quite pathetic," Ayrault had said. "Everyone loves him as an artist, but paying your taxes is an act of solidarity and patriotism."

Hailed as one of the greatest actors of his generation, Depardieu has in recent years become as famed for his erratic behaviour as for his acting talents.

He had been due to appear in court on Thursday on charges of driving his scooter drunk through Paris, but the hearing was postponed.

In August he was cautioned after punching a car driver who had forced him to swerve on his scooter, and last year he generated global headlines when he urinated in a bottle aboard a plane as it prepared to take off from Paris for Dublin.

- AFP/ha

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