It wasn’t hard to see the writing on the wall for Blockbuster’s rapidly declining disc-based movie services, and it’s now clear that the end is at hand. The Dish-owned company says it will close its remaining 300 directly controlled American stores (down from 9,000 in its heyday) by early January, …
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/B99Fm-RzoAQ/
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WeddingLovely, a small, but growing 500 Startups-backed wedding planning service, has now launched a comprehensive wedding vendor directory which combines over 2,300 wedding vendor listings under one roof, allowing couples to easily search, filter vendors by budget and location, plus read and write vendor reviews. The new vendor guide is the culmination of several years’ worth of efforts by the company, which had previously operated a series a specialized directories including WeddingInviteLove.com, WeddingVenueLove.com and WeddingPhotoLove.com, for example, ahead of the launch its consumer-facing planning product last summer.
That product, for those unfamiliar, is designed to walk couples through the exhausting and stressful wedding planning process with a series of how-to’s and guides that can help you figure out all the tasks you’ll need to accomplish to properly plan a wedding. The guide includes helpful advice and tips, like “flower mistakes to avoid,” and “questions to ask caterers,” for instance, and then points couples to vendors who can help them with the various services. The site also offers its own wedding websites for couples with all the standard features like event details, registry links, an “About Us” section, and more.
Before WeddingLovely, the company had built out several wedding vendor directories in specialized verticals. Says founder Tracy Osborn, these specialized directories had initially given the company a lot of credibility with the various wedding industry vendors, but as the company grew, referring people to eight different directories had become “a little ridiculous.”
In the WeddingLovely planning product, the company would point couples to these vendors, but couldn’t actually support a full directory listing for a number of vendor categories, which was also a problem.
“We couldn’t cover people who do wedding rentals,” says Osborn, as an example. “If someone signed up for our photographer directory who does photo booth rentals, it didn’t quite fit,” she explains. “The new general directory pulls in the listings from our specialized directories so our vendors don’t have to do anything additional, but it also supports those vendor groups that haven’t been able to work with WeddingLovely up until now.”
This also includes other groups like dressmakers, honeymoon providers, wedding website makers, officiants, jewelry designers, favor designers, and more.
Going forward, all sorts of vendors can submit an application for inclusion in the WeddingLovely directory. If approved, they can choose a free basic account, or a $25/month pro account, which offers branding opportunities, more exposure in search results, and other opportunities for promotion on the company blog. WeddingLovely also charges couples $9.95/month for the service, or a one-time fee of $79, if they prefer.
The company has been profitable since July, and remains a bootstrapped team of three women. Osborn, a sole founder and self-taught coder, says the service saw thousands of signups following its launch last year, and the conversion funnel is holding at about 20% trial conversions, and then 75% of those becoming paying customers. Like all wedding companies, WeddingLovely must continually acquire users. Currently, it has a several hundred paying couples on board.
The majority of vendors added to the service today come from word-of-mouth referrals, often by other vendors. The company also relies on SEO and is considering using paid ads in early 2014.
Remaining small makes sense for this Mountain View-based startup for now. “I really love bootstrapping,” says Osborn.
“The wedding industry can be kind of crazy. I love being able to focus on my gut and where I want to go, rather than worrying so much about profit and making sure the company is exploding. I can make some good decisions,” she explains. “And I can take as much time as I want.”
The new WeddingLovely Vendor Guide is live here.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/v5MV42m12mM/
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In this Oct. 26, 2013 photo, volunteers unload trash they removed from the San Juan Bay Estuary in San Juan, Puerto Rico. A plan to rescue this urban wetland, which is still a vital habitat and prime tarpon fishing ground despite the pollution, is a priority for the government, in part to bring more tourists and needed revenue to the capital of the U.S. island territory. (AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo)
In this Oct. 26, 2013 photo, volunteers unload trash they removed from the San Juan Bay Estuary in San Juan, Puerto Rico. A plan to rescue this urban wetland, which is still a vital habitat and prime tarpon fishing ground despite the pollution, is a priority for the government, in part to bring more tourists and needed revenue to the capital of the U.S. island territory. (AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo)
In this Oct. 30, 2013 photo, local fisher Sara Ayala retrieves her trap containing a crab from the San Juan Bay Estuary in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The estuary is surrounded by a maze of dark-green mangroves that offer shelter and shade to dozens of bird species. Across the open waters, people still catch fish and crab, despite health warnings due to contamination. (AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo)
In this Oct. 26, 2013 photo, people navigate the waters of the San Juan Bay Estuary in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The estuary sprawls across many municipalities and includes the channel, several lagoons and the picturesque San Juan Bay, which cruise ships cross to reach the capital’s historic colonial section. Officials say it’s home to at least numerous species of birds, plants and fish. (AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo)
In this Oct. 30, 2013 photo, local fisher Sara Ayala shows her freshly caught crab in the San Juan Bay Estuary in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Across the open waters, people still catch fish and crab, despite health warnings due to contamination. (AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo)
In this Oct. 26, 2013 photo, volunteers toss tires as they clean up the San Juan Bay Estuary in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Trash clogging the Martin Pena Channel means there is only one exit to the ocean, choking off natural tidal flow that might flush out debris and other contamination. (AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo, File)
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Volunteers wore surgical gloves, many afraid to touch the water, as they picked through tangles of mangrove along a lagoon at the edge of Puerto Rico’s capital.
They hauled out old tires by the dozen, plastic bottles by the hundreds. They found discarded fishing nets, an old toilet and sink and bags of medical waste that appeared to contain plasma.
“The amount of garbage that has accumulated here in the last 20 years is unbelievable,” said Jose Aponte, who helped coordinate the cleanup through a Puerto Rican nonprofit whose name translates as Fish, Beach and Environment.
More than 12,600 pounds (5,700 kilograms) of trash was pulled out of the San Juan Bay Estuary in just a few hours that recent weekend morning, evidence of the enormous scale of the problem, but perhaps also a sign that things might improve. A plan to rescue this urban wetland, which is still a vital habitat and prime tarpon fishing ground despite the pollution, is a priority for the administration of Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla, in part to bring more tourists and needed revenue to the gritty capital of the U.S. island territory.
Cleaning the estuary would first mean excavating a solid mass of accumulated garbage that blocks the entrance of the Martin Pena Channel and cuts off the ocean’s natural flow, choking the life out of much of the estuary. The $600 million project would take nearly four years, but officials believe it would transform a network of lagoons and streams.
“We expect it to become a Caribbean fisheries hotspot,” said Lyvia Rodriguez, executive director of the public corporation the government created to help undertake the project.
The state-owned water and sewer company has pledged $120 million for the effort, and Rodriguez said officials are working to find the remaining money, a daunting prospect with the island entering its eighth year of recession. Puerto Rico’s government has not indicated how much if any it would contribute in total.
As the corporation continues searching for funds, nonprofit groups have organized their own cleanups targeting certain areas of the estuary, which is surrounded by a maze of dark-green mangroves that offer shelter and shade to dozens of bird species. Across the open waters, pelicans swoop down for prey and people still catch fish and crab despite health warnings.
Mario Nunez, who grew up next to the Martin Pena Channel, said in the 1970s he and his neighbors would cross the stretch of water by boat to go shopping, paying around 10 cents.
“Now we can cross from one side to the other … We walk across on top of garbage,” said the community leader. “The environmental deterioration has been incredible.”
So much trash has accumulated that channel sections once 400 feet (122 meters) wide have now shrunk to a mere three feet (1 meter).
The San Juan Bay Estuary sprawls across eight municipalities and includes the channel, five lagoons and the picturesque San Juan Bay, which cruise ships cross to reach the capital’s historic colonial section. Officials say it’s home to at least 160 species of birds, 300 types of plants and 124 kinds of fish.
Urban runoff has contaminated much of the estuary, with high amounts of sediment and algae causing massive die-offs of fish. Trash clogging the Martin Pena Channel means there is only one exit to the ocean, choking off natural tidal flow that might flush out debris and other contamination.
“We urgently need this dredged,” said Javier Laureano, director of the nonprofit San Juan Bay Estuary Program. “It’s like having a heart artery obstructed.”
The nearly four-mile (six-kilometer) long Martin Pena Channel once had a second exit, but blockage there has restricted water flow, affecting the salinity of a nearby lagoon and killing wildlife.
The estuary began to deteriorate after rural migrants sprawled across San Juan in the mid-1900s. Development then began crowding the edge of the estuary, often without connecting to the main sewer system.
Nunez recalled how people considered the channel a nuisance because it attracted mosquitoes carrying dengue. He said the government would often drop off construction rubble and old tires near the channel, which residents would then use to build homes.
“There was no environmental consciousness back then,” he said. “It was easier to open a kitchen window and throw out the garbage than to walk to the main road.”
Earlier this year, the Water and Sewer Authority connected about 1,000 homes nearby to services, but raw sewage continues to flow in large quantities.
The territory’s governor revived hopes the estuary could be saved when he recently signed an executive order to create a committee charged with overseeing the dredging project, which has received widespread support from a sharply divided legislature and a majority of Puerto Ricans.
Rodriguez said her corporation aims to start the dredging in 2016 while the water and sewer company has pledged to build a sewage system for some of the 26,000 people who live near the estuary.
Even with the funding challenges, there is some optimism the problems can be solved. Puerto Ricans have already cleaned up a portion of the estuary known as the Condado Lagoon, which once was considered an open sewer but now hosts Ironman competitions.
“This is a man-made problem,” said Guy Harvey, a marine biologist and wildlife artist who visited Puerto Rico in late October to help revive one of the lagoons. “We can easily fix this with a little bit of thought and cunning.”
Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-11-05-Puerto%20Rico-Urban%20Estuary/id-33fbf41dbf954ac2a60c8f86fbc492ed
Category: Columbus Day 2013 liam hemsworth jadeveon clowney
Returning to her favorite tattoo artist for some very special ink, Miley Cyrus headed to Kat Von D for her latest body art.
On Tuesday (November 5), the “We Can’t Stop” singer posted a photo of a portrait of a woman on her forearm with the caption, “because i am her favorite & she is mine.”
Clearing up just who the woman is, Kat shared a series of pics of the work in progress with the comment, “Grandmas rule.”
Previously, Miley had the “L.A. Ink” star tattoo her three times, including two crossed arrows on her right elbow and a miniature rendition of a da Vinci anatomical heart on her forearm.
Source: http://celebrity-gossip.net/miley-cyrus/miley-cyrus-gets-another-kat-von-d-tattoo-955915
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Terminology 3 is the latest version of Agile Tortoise’s dictionary and thesaurus app. Terminology is a great way to look up words or find replacements. You can drill down, finding more and less specific words from your current search. You can find related words, research parts of certain words and more. Search is accessed either by hitting the magnifying glass on the bottom toolbar or by swiping right from the left edge of the screen.
Like Agile Tortoise’s Drafts, Terminology 3 supports actions, which let you do things like search Wikipedia for your current word, or execute a custom action. For instance, I have an action in Terminology that allows me to send words to a specific Evernote notebook. Access actions by tapping the button in the bottom right corner of the screen. From the sliding panel, you can choose your actions, as well as visit the action directory. Manage your actions by hitting the gear icon to go to settings, then tap Manage Actions.
Terminology allows you to customize the app’s appearance with several fonts and color schemes. Additionally, you can choose to sync you favorite terms, custom actions, and history with iCloud, in addition to Dropbox. Terminology 3 is a new app, requires iOS 7, and is now universal. You can grab it from the App Store for $2.99.
If you try it, let me know how it works for you!
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Apple has finally updated its iOS remote app with an all new design for iOS 7. As you might expect from an Apple release, this is a complete overhaul, and while much of it is glitz and glamor, the important part – the functionality – remains untouched, and everything is basically where it was before. But it looks awesome.
Support for iTunes 11.1 has also been added in this latest release, which you can download right now from the App Store at the link below.
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/TflWlrtsEqM/story01.htm
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Child sexual abuse via the Internet on the rise
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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
29-Oct-2013
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]
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Contact: Meichun Mohler-Kuo
Meichun.mohler-kuo@uzh.ch
41-446-344-637
University of Zurich
Sexual abuse of children and adolescents can have serious health consequences for victims. Early studies have revealed that child sexual abuse is associated with an increased risk of later mental and physical health problems and risk-taking behavior. The Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine at the University of Zurich, the Psychosomatics and Psychiatry Department at Zurich’s University Children’s Hospital and the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at University Hospital Zurich discovered that sexual abuse is alarmingly widespread in a representative sample of more than 6,000 9th grade students in Switzerland.
Sexual harassment via the Internet is mentioned most frequently
Among the study participants, mainly between 15 and 17 years old, roughly 40 percent of girls and 17 percent of boys reported they had experienced at least one type of child sexual abuse. Relative to boys, sexual abuse without physical contact was reported twice as often in girls and sexual abuse with physical contact without penetration three times more often. Both genders reported “sexual harassment via the Internet” as the most frequent form of abuse. This form of sexual abuse was experienced by roughly 28 percent of girls over the course of their lifetimes and by almost 10 percent of boys. At just under 15 percent for girls versus 5 percent for boys, “molested verbally or by e-mail/text message” was the second most common form of abuse. Just under 12 percent of the surveyed girls and 4 percent of the surveyed boys reported having been kissed or touched against their will. Approximately 2.5 percent of the girls had already experienced sexual abuse with penetration (vaginal, oral, anal or other); among boys, this figure was 0.6 percent.
The results of the Zurich study are comparable to those of an earlier Swiss study which was conducted in Geneva between 1995 and 1996 in a similar age group asked similar questions. The prevalence of sexual abuse with physical contact is almost unchanged today. However, sexual abuse without physical contact occurs far more frequently. “We believe that this difference can be attributed to harassment via the Internet, e-mail, or text messaging. This type of sexual abuse was not surveyed back then”, explains Dr. Meichun Mohler-Kuo, senior research scientist at the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine at the University of Zurich.
The majority were victimized by juvenile perpetrators
Just over half of the female victims and more than 70 percent of the male victims reported that they had been abused by a juvenile perpetrator. Furthermore, most of the victims of sexual abuse with physical contact knew the perpetrator for instance, they were partners, peers, or acquaintances. “This new trend towards the majority being juvenile perpetrators, and being peers and acquaintances, is in contrast to the Geneva study, and might indicate increased violent behavior among adolescents”, explains Dr. Ulrich Schnyder, Head of the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at University Hospital Zurich. And he adds: “Our results also differ considerably from official police reports, according to which perpetrators are usually adult, male relatives.” This would seem to indicate significant under-reporting of abuse to officials.
The majority did not disclose sexual abuse
Only about half of victimized girls and less than one-third of victimized boys disclosed their sexual abuse experiences. The disclosure rate is even lower with more severe forms of sexual abuse. Most victims who do disclose, do so to their peers; less than 20 percent to their families. Fewer than 10 percent of victims reported the sexual abuse to police. “Compared to similar studies from other countries, the disclosure figures in the Swiss study are low. The reluctance in reporting incidents of this kind to family members or authorities makes timely intervention more difficult,” concludes Dr. Schnyder.
###
Literature:
Meichun Mohler-Kuo, Markus A. Landolt, Thomas Maier, Verena Schnbucher, Ursula Meidert, Ulrich Schnyder. Child sexual abuse revisited: A population-based cross-sectional study among Swiss adolescents. Journal of adolescent health. October 29, 2013.
Background
The survey was conducted in 22 cantons. The study examined the prevalence, characteristics, and circumstances of sexual abuse over each child’s entire lifetime and over the course of the previous 12 months. A distinction was made between the following forms of sexual abuse in the study:
Sexual abuse without physical contact
Sexual abuse with physical contact without penetration
Sexual abuse with penetration
The survey is part of the Optimus Study which was conducted by the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine of the University of Zurich, the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy of the University Hospital Zurich, and the Department of Psychosomatics and Psychiatry of the Zurich’s University Children’s Hospital. The Optimus Study was initiated and financed by the UBS Optimus Foundation (http://www.optimusstudy.org).
Contact:
Prof. Dr. med. Ulrich Schnyder
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy
University Hospital Zurich
Tel. +41 44 255 52 51
Email: ulrich.schnyder@access.uzh.ch
PD Dr. Meichun Mohler-Kuo
Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine
University of Zurich
Tel. +41 44 634 46 37
Email: Meichun.mohler-kuo@uzh.ch
[
Share
]
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Child sexual abuse via the Internet on the rise
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
29-Oct-2013
[
]
Share
Contact: Meichun Mohler-Kuo
Meichun.mohler-kuo@uzh.ch
41-446-344-637
University of Zurich
Sexual abuse of children and adolescents can have serious health consequences for victims. Early studies have revealed that child sexual abuse is associated with an increased risk of later mental and physical health problems and risk-taking behavior. The Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine at the University of Zurich, the Psychosomatics and Psychiatry Department at Zurich’s University Children’s Hospital and the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at University Hospital Zurich discovered that sexual abuse is alarmingly widespread in a representative sample of more than 6,000 9th grade students in Switzerland.
Sexual harassment via the Internet is mentioned most frequently
Among the study participants, mainly between 15 and 17 years old, roughly 40 percent of girls and 17 percent of boys reported they had experienced at least one type of child sexual abuse. Relative to boys, sexual abuse without physical contact was reported twice as often in girls and sexual abuse with physical contact without penetration three times more often. Both genders reported “sexual harassment via the Internet” as the most frequent form of abuse. This form of sexual abuse was experienced by roughly 28 percent of girls over the course of their lifetimes and by almost 10 percent of boys. At just under 15 percent for girls versus 5 percent for boys, “molested verbally or by e-mail/text message” was the second most common form of abuse. Just under 12 percent of the surveyed girls and 4 percent of the surveyed boys reported having been kissed or touched against their will. Approximately 2.5 percent of the girls had already experienced sexual abuse with penetration (vaginal, oral, anal or other); among boys, this figure was 0.6 percent.
The results of the Zurich study are comparable to those of an earlier Swiss study which was conducted in Geneva between 1995 and 1996 in a similar age group asked similar questions. The prevalence of sexual abuse with physical contact is almost unchanged today. However, sexual abuse without physical contact occurs far more frequently. “We believe that this difference can be attributed to harassment via the Internet, e-mail, or text messaging. This type of sexual abuse was not surveyed back then”, explains Dr. Meichun Mohler-Kuo, senior research scientist at the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine at the University of Zurich.
The majority were victimized by juvenile perpetrators
Just over half of the female victims and more than 70 percent of the male victims reported that they had been abused by a juvenile perpetrator. Furthermore, most of the victims of sexual abuse with physical contact knew the perpetrator for instance, they were partners, peers, or acquaintances. “This new trend towards the majority being juvenile perpetrators, and being peers and acquaintances, is in contrast to the Geneva study, and might indicate increased violent behavior among adolescents”, explains Dr. Ulrich Schnyder, Head of the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at University Hospital Zurich. And he adds: “Our results also differ considerably from official police reports, according to which perpetrators are usually adult, male relatives.” This would seem to indicate significant under-reporting of abuse to officials.
The majority did not disclose sexual abuse
Only about half of victimized girls and less than one-third of victimized boys disclosed their sexual abuse experiences. The disclosure rate is even lower with more severe forms of sexual abuse. Most victims who do disclose, do so to their peers; less than 20 percent to their families. Fewer than 10 percent of victims reported the sexual abuse to police. “Compared to similar studies from other countries, the disclosure figures in the Swiss study are low. The reluctance in reporting incidents of this kind to family members or authorities makes timely intervention more difficult,” concludes Dr. Schnyder.
###
Literature:
Meichun Mohler-Kuo, Markus A. Landolt, Thomas Maier, Verena Schnbucher, Ursula Meidert, Ulrich Schnyder. Child sexual abuse revisited: A population-based cross-sectional study among Swiss adolescents. Journal of adolescent health. October 29, 2013.
Background
The survey was conducted in 22 cantons. The study examined the prevalence, characteristics, and circumstances of sexual abuse over each child’s entire lifetime and over the course of the previous 12 months. A distinction was made between the following forms of sexual abuse in the study:
Sexual abuse without physical contact
Sexual abuse with physical contact without penetration
Sexual abuse with penetration
The survey is part of the Optimus Study which was conducted by the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine of the University of Zurich, the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy of the University Hospital Zurich, and the Department of Psychosomatics and Psychiatry of the Zurich’s University Children’s Hospital. The Optimus Study was initiated and financed by the UBS Optimus Foundation (http://www.optimusstudy.org).
Contact:
Prof. Dr. med. Ulrich Schnyder
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy
University Hospital Zurich
Tel. +41 44 255 52 51
Email: ulrich.schnyder@access.uzh.ch
PD Dr. Meichun Mohler-Kuo
Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine
University of Zurich
Tel. +41 44 634 46 37
Email: Meichun.mohler-kuo@uzh.ch
[
Share
]
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-10/uoz-csa102913.php
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Source: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=242358466&ft=1&f=1001
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The world needed a device in the middle that combined the best of both — ‘more intimate than a laptop, and so much more capable than a smartphone’. Only after more buildup did Jobs say what the world was waiting …
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/U45enScDfd4/
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As is customary with any new Apple release, the guys over at iFixit have got their hands on an iPad Air and proceeded to do what they do best; take it apart. It’s as cool as ever to see what’s inside, but the downer is that the Air scores pretty low on the repairability front.
iFixit has given the iPad Air a pretty lowly 2/10. On the positive side the LCD and glass on the front are separate components, so that at least is an aid to any replacements due to cracking, or worse. The battery causes some issues, not so much from a soldering perspective, but from the amount of glue holding it in place and spring contacts on the logic board that traps it in place. Looks to have been a frustrating time trying to get that thing out of there!
Any DIY-repairers out there disappointed with what you’re seeing?
Source: iFixit
iPad Air
Apple’s full-sized iPad gets slimmed down. Features include:
Released
November, 2013
Alternatives
Retina iPad mini, iPad 2
Replacements
iPad Air 2 (iPad 6)
Fall, 2014
Resources
Buyers guide
Help forum
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