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Angry Birds Still the Biggest Story in Mobile

Games
on December 8th, 2011 by - Comments Off
play angry birds

We all love it...

What could be said about Angry Birds that hasn’t already been said by tech entrepreneurs, app developers and gaming fans?  It’s a massive example of success in the mobile application market and has spawned a lot of copycats and startup companies that are attempting to replicate its level of success.  Let’s take a look at the gameplay and see if we can discern just what makes the game so fun to play.
At the most basic level, Angry Birds is a physics simulator where you launch one object at another.  The earliest examples of these types of games were the cannon games where you battled against each other by launching missiles and projectiles across vast swatches of land in an attempt to destroy your enemy’s cannon.  While these games were fun for their time, they quickly grew out of favor with the advent of 3d graphics and first person shooters.
However the mobile market has reopened a lot of the market to those “vintage” games because it’s not as feasible to launch a Halo title on a mobile application yet.  Angry Birds took advantage of this by putting a slight twist on the old cannon model.  They created cute characters – birds as the protagonists and evil pigs as the antagonists – instead of lifeless cannons.  Then they decided to give you the option to fire different types of birds out of your slingshot.  Each bird has a unique ability in lieu of a standard parabolic flight path – though the most basic bird has this feature.  This neat twist opens the game up to a whole host of unique implications that let you really get your creativity involved in the game.  It’s been said that there are infinite combinations of launch patterns to do on each level, and there are even multiple ways to reach the three star rating for each level.
The birds that you get for each level are pre-determined, so it’s up to you to figure out how to utilize what you’re given against the environment and pigs that you have to destroy to maximize your destruction and score.  I’ve found that the best strategies involve front-loading the damage onto the earlier birds and then using the other, more tactical birds to do the “clean up work.”  This has worked really well for me as far as nailing all of the three star ratings, but I must admit that it did take quite a while before I was able to get all of them completed.
As soon as I did finish, Rovio Mobile released a holiday version of the game with all new levels and a new bird.  I knew my life was over at that moment because I had just completed the original version and was about to actually do something productive with my life, but the holiday version sucked me back in.  Eventually I defeated that as well and have nothing but fond memories of my times playing Angry Birds.

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Tungsten is becoming a popular choice for rings

Life
on December 2nd, 2011 by - Comments Off

One of the newest metals to break out onto the scene, specifically for wedding band design, is tungsten.  Even though it has literally been around for centuries (it was first discovered in the 1700s), this attractive metal just recently became popular for men and women alike.

tungsten wedding bands

Tungsten wedding band

Tungsten, which means “heavy stone,” is just that.  The reason why tungsten wedding bands have suddenly gotten such a high demand and great reviews from its users is because it is it perfect for those who have active lifestyles. If you are constantly using your hands to work on cars, garden, swim, or play with the kids, then having a softer metal such as gold will definitely not work for you.  This is because a soft metal will easily corrode, whereas a heavy metal like tungsten is basically resistant to corrosion, chips, and dings.  You can be sure that a ring made out of tungsten will last for a long time while still maintaining its polish.

 

Most of the time nowadays if you buy a wedding band made out of tungsten you will actually be getting an alloy of tungsten carbide.  This mixture of tungsten and carbon increases the strength and endurance of the metal, and ultimately, the ring.  Wearers of tungsten carbide won’t have to worry about taking the ring in for repairs very often thanks to the chemical formula.  Using this combination also further increases the workability of the ring.  Whereas tungsten alone is quite brittle, tungsten carbide is a little bit more malleable.

 

Another metal that is making its way into the world of fine jewelry is platinum.  This metal has always been heavily regarded as precious.  Additionally it is relatively rare– King Louis XIV of French history even called it the metal fit for a king because it was such a rarity.

 

Now platinum is one of the most popular rings on the planet, but the fact that it is a little more hard to come by makes it quite expensive.  You would be hard-pressed to find any platinum rings that were being sold for the same price as its counterpart in titanium or tungsten.  However you definitely get what you pay for with a ring made out of platinum.

This metal can appear quite ordinary, but the color is what sets it apart.  The white sheerness of platinum allows it to be molded into basically any design and still look stunning.  Even if you just go with a simple loop, in platinum the ring will be absolutely luxurious.

 

Of course gold and silver will always be the go-to metals, the staples, of the jewelry industry.  However there are so more options out there besides just keeping to what the tradition has been in the past.  Gold and silver are not necessarily the metals that are best suited to your style, taste, or needs.  The right thing to do would be to explore the many different alternatives before settling on your ring. That way you can be absolutely sure you’ll love to wear your jewelry for life.

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How I feed the coffee addiction…

Life
on December 2nd, 2011 by - Comments Off
Cheap K cups taste good?

Can't you just smell it?

When I first moved here, I rented out a room in a beautiful townhouse right in the middle of town.  I brought my old coffee maker with me and was unpacking my things downstairs when I noticed my new roommate already had a sleek white Keurig coffee maker sitting on the marble counter in our kitchen.  Apparently she had gotten it as a gift from her father the Christmas before.  I’ll admit, for the first month or two that I was living with her, I had no idea how to use it.  I simply went without my daily caffeine fix while my old coffee maker sadly sat hidden in the back of my closet in the corner of the highest shelf on the top. Meanwhile, I went about life pretending that I didn’t like coffee, or that I didn’t ever drink it– especially not on a daily basis.

However, as you must know by now, the truth is that I love coffee.  I love the taste, the aroma, the way it makes me feel– it’s basically a scientifically proven fact that I won’t ever reach my maximum potential for the day if I don’t start it off with a warm cup of freshly-brewed coffee.  I love it so much I don’t even try to get fancy with it by adding hazelnut-flavored creamer, or milk and sugar.  I prefer my coffee black, so I can taste every drop exactly as it was intended to be tasted.
Then one day I managed to muster up enough courage to talk to my new roommate about the coffee maker on our counter.  I finally asked her to show me how to use the Keurig coffee maker, and I was shocked at how easy it was.  We grabbed an individual package of one of the cheap K cups my roommate brought home from work (I believe it was the Donut Shop flavor).  Then all we had to do was pop it in the top of the machine, pour in one cup of water, press the button, et voila.  Barely one minute later I was the proud new owner of one magical cup of instantly brewed, delicious coffee, just for me.

Mmmmm

I quickly became addicted to the Keurig, and could never imagine drinking another brand of instant coffee again.  I tried all kinds of flavors, according to what my roommate’s office break room had stocked.  I still think Donut Shop is one of my favorites, but there’s also a great extra bold from Newman’s Own– not to mention the line of cheap K cups  put out by Wolfgang Puck.  You can decide how you want to start off your morning every day by personalizing your coffee to fit your mood.  When you want something a little sweeter, try the hazelnut or creme caramel flavors.  Or you can now even buy hot cocoa cheap K cups if you want to skip out on the caffeine for a day.  There are so many wonderful options you can buy to start your morning off right.

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Guitarists – is there really any other guitar pedal worth using?

Music
on December 1st, 2011 by - Comments Off
When you’ve been playing guitar for a while, you’ll eventually need to look outside the instrument for things to spice up your playing.  Sometimes even the most skilled guitarist in the world with the most amazing sounding guitar needs a few more tricks in his bag than his own skills.  Everyone’s searching for that extra sound that takes their playing from amazing to simply godlike.
Fortunately there are a lot of great companies out there trying to help us musicians take it to the next level.  Boss is one of them.  They make the most complete set of effects pedals that I have ever seen, and that is saying a lot because I’ve looked at the lineup of almost every effects company out there.
boss pedals which one do you use?
For guitarists selection is a huge factor when you’re trying to pick out a Boss pedal.  You get a certain type of person who wants the “all in one” option – a pedal that they can use in almost any situation and it will serve them nicely, but not amazingly.  Others prefer a really custom option for each musical situation that they find themselves in.  They might want a really extreme wah wah pedal for a specific riff in a song, and they a delay pedal for another more ethereal section of another track.  Even still, they may want to throw in some more modulation on a more progressive piece and having just one pedal isn’t going to cut it.  They want the specialized options and I have to say that Boss pedals delivers these to a tee.
For instance, they have a really solid distortion pedal that will essentially cover you when it comes to distortion.  You can take it from a really clean sound with a little bit of dirt to a sound that is reminiscent of a garbage truck outside crunching down the latest trash pickup.  It’s all up to you – that’s what Boss does so well.  They give you ultimate customizability when it comes to the level of effects you want to put on your signal.  I haven’t seen this high a range of selection in a long while, if ever, especially when it comes to the distortion pedal.
The BC-2 combo drive is a great way to channel the sounds of the British rock invasion that took place in the 1950s and 1960s and it’s stripped down to the bare essentials.  You might take that to be a bad thing, but you would be mistaken – oftentimes pedal companies like to throw in these little “extras” and instead end up creating huge hassle for the end user because they just get confused with all of the different options.  The BC-2 has four knobs, an input and an output.  That’s it – and that’s all it needs.
So, if you’re looking for something to breathe life into your playing again, take a look at the boss pedal line.  I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.
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The 10 Commandments Of Managing Finances in Your 20s

Money
on December 11th, 2011 by - Comments Off

Most of us in our 20s are just getting out on our own and learning to stand on our own two feet. It’s a tough road at the beginning, and it’s important to get some basic guidelines to follow.

1. Plan ahead

Plan to grow

Anyone who’s been reading articles around here knows I LOVE to plan. Planning and having a goal are two things that will really make your financial plans tick. If you aren’t saving for or planning for something, then your money will just sit around with nothing to do, making it that much easier to spend on things you don’t really need. It takes a lot of time, patience, and practice, but being able to sit down and map out your finances can be an extremely rewarding activity.

2. Live within your means

A tough one if you’re not exactly sure what your means are. It’s simple to figure out, but not knowing how much you have (or don’t) have can result in some big problems. Student loans and other necessary debt are sometimes unavoidable, but staying away from debt like the plague will help immensely. Debt hangs over you no matter what, and it will always be in the back of your head. Learning to live within your means is a skill that will benefit you in more ways than just padding your bank account.

3. Make saving a habit

Like #2, making saving a habit is a tough skill to develop at first, but can also help you gain financial stability relatively quickly. An easy way is to automate your savings. Sometimes you can contact your employer and ask them to automatically deposit a percentage into a savings account, or you can set an automatic transfer to take a percentage of your paycheck to your savings account periodically. Savings is often best explained by the saying, “set it and forget it.” A little each month builds up to a lot over time.

4. Pay off your credit cards

Staying away from debt (#2) is smart, but using your credit cards and paying them off is a great way to develop credit. Using your card for something specific every month (gas, groceries) and paying it off immediately will help you develop a better credit score, which will help you in the long run.

5. Start investing

I actually don’t have as much experience in this area as I would like, but I would sure like to learn more. I know that starting young is the best way to take advantage of compounding interest and time. Does anyone have any ideas on good places to start?

6. Establish credit

Connected to #4, your ‘credit’ determines how likely you are to pay back debts in full on time. It’s essential to get it going, especially if want to get a loan, a mortgage, or buy a car. There are free online tools that can help you learn about and manage credit – get a free credit report to see where you are at then plan your future credit accordingly.

Free credit report canada

Be smart, it can grow on trees.

7. Develop a marketable skill

Most of us leave home to work, go to a trade school or a university or learn in other ways to develop a marketable skill. Basically, no skill, no dough. If you want to spend the rest of your life serving up hot dogs behind a counter from 7-11, that’s your business, but if you envision something else for yourself, get cracking. Make school count, the longer you’re in it (i.e. the more classes you have to retake) the more money you’ll spend. You can even turn the skill into money before you graduate.

8. Cut the financial umbilical cord

If you are still getting help from your parents, you need to work on weaning yourself off of it. If you really want to be financially independent, you really need to break everything off. If you must have the help to survive and get by, do what you can to begin saving and make sue that you will eventually be able to support yourself. Planning on those gifts or help from parents or other family members will only continue to hold back your financial progress.

9. Marry wisely

Yeah!!! One I did right! Being able to work together with your spouse makes financial success so much easier. If you follow other these other steps and decide on your own financial goals, few things are more rewarding than achieving your goals with someone you love and care about.

10. Have some fun

Yeah!!!! Fun! Don’t forget the fun. Taking time to reward yourself for achieving your goals or for working hard is important, otherwise  life would just be boring and not worth working hard. Make sure take time to enjoy the fruits of your labors and remember that money isn’t the only thing that is important in life.

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Money saving opportunity – cheaper insurance?

Money
on December 3rd, 2011 by - Comments Off

 

get cheap auto insurance quotes to save money

Juggling expenses can be hard...

In tough economic times many people are trying to find ways to cut spending and free up some money in their very tight personal budgets. One place they don’t always think of as an opportunity to save money is insurance. Most people will have auto insurance, home and contents insurance, life insurance, even pet insurance! This could be costing hundreds of dollars per month. If you are smart about it and shop around you could save yourself a ton of money by finding an insurance provider who gives you a better deal.

Many people think they have to pay what their insurance company tells them. This way of thinking is true across the board with policies including auto, home, life, and health insurance. But one thing is for sure: this is a myth. You can set a budget for insurance and then stick to it if you put time into learning how to save money. Remember, the insurance industry is competitive. This means that every insurance company is fighting for your business. Why not use this to your advantage?

If you are interested in saving money on any type of insurance you should follow these two tips:

1. Follow the process of securing insurance quotes online. This is the easiest way to save money on insurance because you can compare prices from different companies who provide cheap auto insurance quotes without wasting time or worrying that you are missing out on something.

2. Collect as many quotes as you need to feel comfortable, but don’t jump on the one with the lowest price just yet. Remember, there is more to insurance than price; even though this is the one detail that you want to spend the most time on.

Are the insurance companies that advertise on television always the cheapest? Do they offer the best deals on both coverage and cost? While many people rush to answer “yes” they would be wrong. Just because a company buys up a lot of commercial time to tell consumers that they offer the best deals does not mean they are telling the truth. It is your job to receive quotes from companies that are advertising on television, as well as any others that you are aware of. You may find that the companies in the background are the ones that offer the best deals.

There are three ways to save money on insurance: negotiate a better deal with your current provider, find a better company, or do without coverage. The last option, doing without coverage, is not one that you want to consider. Instead, rely on the other two options to determine how much you can save on insurance expenses.

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What mothers should know about being pregnant

Life
on December 1st, 2011 by - Comments Off

The ability of the human body to create new life is one of the most magical experiences that a woman and her spouse will ever go through in their lifetime.  If you are someone who wants to have kids, whether you are a man or a woman, you should know all about the phenomenon of pregnancy and what happens in pregnancy week by week.  Taking it slow and understanding things as you go along in your journey to create a new life is the best strategy.

 

pregnancy stages second trimester

Stages of pregnancy

Too many hopeful mothers and fathers stress themselves to death in doing a lot of research before they become pregnant.  They look at what happens in the first trimester before they become pregnant.  They look at what happens in the second trimester as they are in the first, and the third as they are in the second.  It’s madness!  Slowing it down and looking at pregnancy week by week truly is the best way to go.  Believe me, I know from experience.  I’ve given birth to three beautiful children and I learned something new about the pregnancy process every single time.
If I had to pick a favorite period of pregnancy it would without a doubt be the second trimester.  During this time you stop puking in the morning due to morning sickness.  That causes your mood to shift to being a bit more positive as opposed to melancholy.  Additionally during the second trimester you will actually experience a boost of energy that just never seemed to come during weeks 1-12 (the first trimester).
It’s during this time you’ll feel like the little person you are creating in your uterus is actually developing rapidly.  The first kicks and movement are felt during the second trimester which is always the most magical moment during a pregnancy for me.  This is the time where you truly know that the baby in there is healthy, energetic and excitable.  For spouses this is a time where you can feel truly connected to your child and your wife.  As women we understand how a man can feel left out of the process as his part in the creation of the child is long over.
During the second trimester I usually found myself shopping for maternity clothes or actually going into the closet and bringing out the old clothes from my earlier pregnancies.  I have to admit that style doesn’t play much of a part in my consideration for what to wear during this period and on through to when I actually give birth.  I simply am too focused on the well being of the baby inside of me to care about what I look like on the outside.  Most mothers are sympathetic to one another as well, so it’s not a big deal.  We’ve all been through it before or will go through it in the future so we can understand and respect all of the choices made by any newly pregnant woman.

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Living life Rock and Roll style!

Life Music
on October 1st, 2010 by - Comments Off

guitar playerI received a phone call yesterday morning from my sister. Given the time difference, this meant she was ringing me up a little after 1 am Thursday morning.
‘Hey Yanqui, guess who I just saw? Motorhead! And I have a lot of pictures of Lemmy from the front row!’
‘That’s pretty late to be out on a school night’, I say. I occasionally see shows here on school nights, but the tube schedule ensures I’m safely home and tucked in by midnight at the latest.
‘Yeah, but it was worth it. The only downer was thinking about putting the chains on the car after the show.’
Going out in the middle of a snowstorm? I would probably be curled up under a blanket with a book before retiring early. In fact, that’s what I did last night without even requiring a snowstorm.
‘Well, I should be going’ she says after sharing more tales of the night. ‘I have to catch a flight to LA in four hours.’
‘Yeah, okay. I should go too. Pretty busy myself. Loads of things going on.’
‘Really, what things?’
‘Loads of things. You know, London, centre of the universe and all of that. I mean just loads. Rocking and rolling. Loads. I don’t even know how I’ll manage it all.’
So with that lie, we say our goodbyes. I spend the day at work before heading home and grumbling about the weather, public transport and people who don’t stand to the right on escalators.
Mi Mujer sent a text message saying she was having drinks with colleagues and would be home late. I sat at home, eating a bowl of soup and looking out the window at the crowded pub across the street, the O2 dome beyond it and the glow of London proper in the back.
I considered my options of things to do, rejecting each one before heading to bed by 9:30 where I curled up under the thick blanket to wait for Mi Mujer to return.
‘There’s always tomorrow’ I think. ‘I’ll definitely start rocking and rolling tomorrow.’

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Getting in touch with your own intuition – it isnt that difficult!

Self Improvement
on July 22nd, 2010 by - Comments Off

Two men in a truck were driving down a country road when they passed a young woman walking along the side. The driver leaned over the man riding shotgun to get a better look and said, “That’s the girl I’m going to marry.” And he did, years later!
Your intuition will tell you intimate and important things nobody else will. It will tell you things your own mind will argue with. But most people are very happy with the results when they do listen to their mysterious, and seemingly illogical and non-rational intuition. Through your intuition, you can know directly.

The intuition informs abruptly. In an instant, a person can know something to be true, understand something new. Many people have an intuitive flash as they’re falling asleep or just waking up. Perhaps while their defense system is drowsy, a flash of understanding can cut through to their conscious mind.
Millions of peoples’ real life experience is that they walk into a house for rent or sale, and instantly know it is right for them. Pets also display intuition: dogs are known to howl at the moment of their master’s death, even if they’re separated by thousands of miles. There are endless examples throughout history and in every culture of how communication repeatedly takes place in ways science can not yet explain.
The truth is that people experience all kinds of coincidences and serendipity as we go from one place to another in our lives. The magical undercurrent of life can tell us that we are in communication with our own past and future. Through our intuition which notices the signs and omens, we can apprehend our own fate. Just as a movie director hints early on of a plot development, and we get more hooked into the story by the glimpse we get of how things might turn out, the intuition hooks us into our own journey in life.
The intuition is also an early warning system. I’ve heard many life-saving stories, such as the “soldier-for-hire” in 2005 recalling a million-dollar contract he was offered. Although he routinely signed up for dangerous missions, he immediately turned this one down, not liking “how it hit him.” (The most common story is: a client is in their car on the freeway and a little voice suddenly says: “Change lanes!”) Many times clients report being perplexed by their immediate and negative gut reaction to being promoted at work—and it turns out their guts are trying to warn them: “You won’t like what this promotion does to your life!”

The gut is where many people experience the sense of knowing something. When a friend of mine gets an uncomfortable and tightening feeling in her guts, she’s come to learn it’s a sign that the relationship she would like to invest in, or the house she wants to buy, is not a good bet.
One of the most frequent comments people make about their intuition is that it comes and goes, and they don’t know how to control it. It’s natural for it to come and go, just like a writer’s muse comes and goes, and inspiration in general comes and goes. But the intuition can also be invoked. There are many processes that facilitate direct communication with your own inner guidance. If you’d like to try to get in touch with your own intuition, I invite you to spend a few minutes listening to the guided imagery exercise at the beginning of this article. It works for most people—I use it with clients both in person and over the phone.
Relaxing your throat is important for this exercise. Take a moment to consciously relax your jaw, your throat muscles. Slowly shake your head “no”, and slowly shake your head “yes” and take a deep breath.
Before you begin, if you like ceremony, you can try saying this prayer to yourself or out loud:

“I open myself up to receiving whatever is in my best interests at this time. I ask to be given new and helpful insights.”
Here is a more traditional prayer that I learned from my metaphysical teacher, to do before connecting on inner levels:
“I am beginningless, I am endless, I am timeless, I am spaceless. I am in thee, thou art in me, together forever, we are one.”

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A blog – just like your own journal?

Writing
on May 15th, 2010 by - Comments Off

People have been keeping journals for hundreds of years: records of voyages, stories of life’s milestones, and daily diaries that track events, feelings and an inner life that no one else even suspects. Anais Nin recorded every detail of her affairs from one with Henry Miller to the notorious liaison with Joaquin Nin, her composer father who had abandoned her when she was a child. Virginia Woolf’s diary Moments of Being captured those intense experiences in which we are truly alive. Franz Kafka’s stories first appeared in his journals. Many artists and writers have kept notebooks to collect descriptions, sketches, thoughts and ideas for their art work. Individuals have kept journals to have a place to acknowledge their feelings, to record their ambitions and frustrations. Farmers track the seasons, spies plot their exploits, criminals confess.

Can a journal open new possibilities in your life? Can it let you see into your obsessions and addictions? Can it listen?
Yes! A journal is a unique way of carrying on a very personal conversation – with yourself. You don’t need to hide anything or worry about how you will be regarded. The repercussions are limited to the actions you will take, no one else. And a journal can reveal the answers that only you know, if you want them.
Journals and the techniques that make them effective have perennially attracted teenagers, who prefer baby blue and pink lockable leatherettes diaries in which to record their crushes.

Writing for fun

Today, in notebooks and blogs, websites, sketchbooks, and the backs of envelopes, individuals write in order to understand and deepen their lives. They have discovered that their writing has helped them overcome and integrate painful and limiting experiences and given them the courage and resolve to undertake new challenges. They have come face to face with their own need to live more intense and productive lives.
Journal writing can be a powerful tool for transformation and discovery. Journal techniques enable the writer to uncover and rediscover goals, to reveal ambitions and fears, and to validate the desire to change and grow.
There are many ways to write in a personal journal. A daily recording of your day can create a new clarity. Describing a very intense period in your life can help you penetrate its personal meaning and the reverberations it may have in your life.

A journal can help you tune in to the messages of your body, understand a period of illness, come to grips with a traumatic experience.
Many people keep a spiritual journal to deepen the meaning of their lives. Others use a journal to help them live out their ambitions, overcome fears or inertia and put new plans into action. A journal can help you clarify relationships, especially a difficult one where it’s not clear how to continue. Dreams often reveal an inner meaning when recorded and read again.
Remember, there are no rules and no one is watching. But there are some approaches that help the process. Be courageous about recording the truth as you see it, even if others would disagree or be disturbed. This is your private space. Be specific – remember the physical details of the space where you had – or are having – an experience, the time of day, the light, the ambience and your own deepest feelings. Be free – forget grammar, punctuation and any criticism: just let go and write, if possible without stopping, for as long as you need to.
Afterwards, take the time to read over what you have written and then jot down any insights or thoughts. And keep your journal entries together. It may interest you later to see how lines of thoughts, metaphors, dreams and reactions reappear or change over time.

© Accuracy 2010
CyberChimps
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