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  • Plastic Clamshell Packaging Voted Worse Design Ever

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    We’ve all been there: frustrated and trying free a new purchase from it’s plastic clamshell jail. You’re not alone, the packaging design has been voted the worst in history. In a poll at Quora, users voted on the absolute worst piece of design work they’d encountered. Overwhelmingly, they voted the annoying-to-open clamshell design to the top. The author of the top comment/entry, Anita Shillhorn writes: “Design should help solve problems” — clamshells are supposed to make it harder to steal small products and easier for employees to arrange on display — but this packaging, she says, makes new ones, such as time wasted, frustration, and the little nicks and scrapes people incur as they just try to get their damn lightbulb out. This is a product designed for the manufacturers and the retailers, not the end users. There is even a Wikipedia page devoted to “wrap rage,” “the common name for heightened levels of anger and frustration resulting from the inability to open hard-to-remove packaging.” Hit up the link below for more entries in their worst-design poll. Before you go, if you’ve got a great tip for getting goods out of the plastic shell they ship in, make sure to share it in the comments. What Is The Worst Piece of Design Ever Done? [via The Atlantic] HTG Explains: What Is RSS and How Can I Benefit From Using It? HTG Explains: Why You Only Have to Wipe a Disk Once to Erase It HTG Explains: Learn How Websites Are Tracking You Online

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  • What You Said: Your Favorite Windows Customization Tricks

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    Earlier this week we asked you to share your favorite Windows customization tricks and now we’re back to highlight some of the tips, tricks, and tweaks you shared. Your customization tips ranged from cosmetic to behind the scenes tweaks and offered a wide variety of ways to customize the Windows experience. Ted Lilley’s favorite must-have tweak involves Windows Explorer: The most fundamental change I make to Windows 7 is to immediately add tabs to Explorer via the QTTabbar add-on. I also add the good old cut/copy/paste/delete/new folder buttons alongside the tabs by installing Classic Shell (I skip Classic Start). Robin sets up virtual desktops: How to Use an Xbox 360 Controller On Your Windows PC Download the Official How-To Geek Trivia App for Windows 8 How to Banish Duplicate Photos with VisiPic

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  • Repurpose Old Phones As Intercoms

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    If you’ve got some old wired telephones laying around for want of a project, this simple hack turns two wired phones into an intercom. Over at Hack A Day, Caleb Kraft shares his simple phone hack inspired by his VW bus. He writes: In case you haven’t noticed from my many comments on the subject, I drive a VW bus. It is a 1976 Westfalia camper with sage green paint and green plaid upholstery. I absolutely love it and so does the rest of my family. We go for drives in the country as well as camping regularly. We have found that the kids have a hard time communicating with us while we’re going higher speeds. These things aren’t the quietest automobiles in the world. Pushing this bread loaf shaped hunk of steel down the road with an engine that might top out at 75hp results in wind noise, engine noise, and of course, vibration. I decided to employ a really old hack to put two functional telephones in the bus so my kids can talk to my wife (or whoever the passenger is) without screaming quite so loud. This hack is extremely easy, fairly cheap, and can be done in just a few minutes. The result is a functional intercom that you could use pretty much anywhere! For more pics of his setup (and a neat video of his rather retro ride), check out the link below. Hack Your Kindle for Easy Font Customization HTG Explains: What Is RSS and How Can I Benefit From Using It? HTG Explains: Why You Only Have to Wipe a Disk Once to Erase It

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  • CPU Wars Is a Trump-Style Card Game Driven by Chip Stats

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    If you’re looking for the geekiest card game around, you’d be hard pressed to beat CPU Wars–a top-trumps card game built around CPU specs. From the game’s designers: CPU Wars is a trump card game built by geeks for geeks. For Volume 1.0 we chose 30 CPUs that we believe had the greatest impact on the desktop history. The game is ideally played by 2 or 3 people. The deck is split between the players and then each player takes a turn and picks a category that they think has the best value. We have chosen the most important specs that could be numerically represented, such as maximum speed achieved and maximum number of transistors. It’s lots of fun, it has a bit of strategy and can be played during a break or over a coffee. If you’re interested, you can pick up a copy for £7.99 (roughly $12.50 USD). Hit up the link below for more information. How To Customize Your Wallpaper with Google Image Searches, RSS Feeds, and More 47 Keyboard Shortcuts That Work in All Web Browsers How To Hide Passwords in an Encrypted Drive Even the FBI Can’t Get Into

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  • Dropbox Doubling the Storage of Their Pro Accounts Tonight Free of Charge

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    If you’re a Dropbox Pro user (or have been contemplating getting a Dropbox Pro account) today is your lucky day. Dropbox has overhauled their pricing structure, effectively doubling the storage capacity of their Pro account with nary a price increase in sight. Starting later today (keep an eye on the Dropbox Plans page for the change) the Pro 50GB and 100GB plans will shift to Pro 100GB and 200GB plans, doubling the amount of storage users enjoy without an increase in price. Hit up the link below for more info. New Dropbox Plans! [The Dropbox Blog] How to Play Classic Arcade Games On Your PC How to Use an Xbox 360 Controller On Your Windows PC Download the Official How-To Geek Trivia App for Windows 8

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  • Homebrewed Headphone Amp Shows Off DIY Resin Casting Process

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    Although the guts of this DIY build are worth checking out in their own right, what really caught our eye was the beautiful resin cast case surrounding the build as it’s something that could be adapted to a wide variety of projects. Over at the electronics blog Runaway Brainz they were looking for a slick way to encase an amp project. Rather than go with a project box or similar construction, they did a resin pour and then sanded and polished the resulting encasement. The results are stunning and turn the electronic guts of the amp into a work of art. Freeform Headphone Amp [via Make] How to Stress Test the Hard Drives in Your PC or Server How To Customize Your Android Lock Screen with WidgetLocker The Best Free Portable Apps for Your Flash Drive Toolkit

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  • DIY Homemade Hybrid Rocket Engine [Video]

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    Remember the guy with the cool DIY astronaut ice cream build? He’s back with a mini hybrid rocket engine that runs off oxygen and acrylic. I built a small rocket engine for demonstration purposes. The engine is built from a 2″ diameter acrylic rod through which I drilled a 0.5″ hole. The oxygen at 80 psi or less is passed through the hole and then is forced through a convergent-divergent nozzle at the tail end. The nozzle’s throat is about 0.25″ and expands to 0.625″. I lit the engine by inserting a burning cotton swab (with wooden stick) while a small amount of oxygen was flowing. The acrylic catches fire very easily in a pure oxygen environment. The engine can be throttled and shut off completely, which is a major benefit to hybrid engine designs. Solid-fuel rockets cannot be throttled or shut off, which makes them difficult to control. [via Make] HTG Explains: What is the Windows Page File and Should You Disable It? How To Get a Better Wireless Signal and Reduce Wireless Network Interference How To Troubleshoot Internet Connection Problems

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  • Weekend Project: Make Your Own Ferromagnetic Fluid

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    Experiments this simple and fun give you no reason to leave all science-based goofing off to the professionals: whip up a beaker of ferromagnetic fluid to capture magnetic waves in motion. The premise is simple: by combing a viscous liquid (in this case vegetable oil) with a magnetic powder (in this case MICR copy toner) and introducing a strong magnetic source (such as neodymium rare earth magnets), you can actually see the magnetic waves in physical space. It’s like the old magnetic filings on the table top trick, but in 3D. Check out the video above to see how you can mix up a batch of your own. How to Make Magnetic Fluid [YouTube] What Is the Purpose of the “Do Not Cover This Hole” Hole on Hard Drives? How To Log Into The Desktop, Add a Start Menu, and Disable Hot Corners in Windows 8 HTG Explains: Why You Shouldn’t Use a Task Killer On Android

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  • What Is Disk Fragmentation and Do I Still Need to Defragment?

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    Do modern computers still need the kind of routine defragmentation procedures that older computers called for? Read on to learn about fragmentation and what modern operating systems and file systems do to minimize performance impacts. Today’s Question & Answer session comes to us courtesy of SuperUser—a subdivision of Stack Exchange, a community-drive grouping of Q&A web sites. Secure Yourself by Using Two-Step Verification on These 16 Web Services How to Fix a Stuck Pixel on an LCD Monitor How to Factory Reset Your Android Phone or Tablet When It Won’t Boot

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  • Distinction between API and frontend-backend

    - by Jason
    I'm trying to write a "standard" business web site. By "standard", I mean this site runs the usual HTML5, CSS and Javascript for the front-end, a back-end (to process stuff), and runs MySQL for the database. It's a basic CRUD site: the front-end just makes pretty whatever the database has in store; the backend writes to the database whatever the user enters and does some processing. Just like most sites out there. In creating my Github repositories to begin coding, I've realized I don't understand the distinction between the front-end back-end, and the API. Another way of phrasing my question is: where does the API come into this picture? I'm going to list some more details and then questions I have - hopefully this gives you guys a better idea of what my actual question is, because I'm so confused that I don't know the specific question to ask. Some more details: I'd like to try the Model-View-Controller pattern. I don't know if this changes the question/answer. The API will be RESTful I'd like my back-end to use my own API instead of allowing the back-end to cheat and call special queries. I think this style is more consistent. My questions: Does the front-end call the back-end which calls the API? Or does the front-end just call the API instead of calling the back-end? Does the back-end just execute an API and the API returns control to the back-end (where the back-end acts as the ultimate controller, delegating tasks)? Long and detailed answers explaining the role of the API alongside the front-end back-end are encouraged. If the answer depends on the model of programming (models other than the Model-View-Controller pattern), please describe these other ways of thinking of the API. Thanks. I'm very confused.

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  • WolframAlpha Can Now Do In-depth Analysis of Your Facebook Account

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    If you’re a big fan of WolframAlpha’s ability to crunch the numbers on just about anything–and we certainly are–you’ll likely be just as delighted as we were to watch it massage the data from your Facebook account. Find out your most liked, discussed, and shared posts, see your Facebook habits, and other neat trends. I unleashed it on my account this morning, not sure what to expect from the results. Within the results tabulation WolframAlpha provided me with all sorts of neat data break downs. I now know exactly how many days it is to my next birthday, the composition of my aggregate posting habits (how many posts are status updates, links, or photos), the time of day when I do the most posting (and what the composition of those posts is), and my average post length. I also know my most liked post and my most commented on post. It will even crunch the numbers on your network of friends (60.6% of my friends are married, for example). By far one of the more interesting data analysis it does on the friendship data, however, is organizing all your friends into relationship clusters so you can see who in your Facebook network is friends with other people in your Facebook network. The service from WolframAlpha is free: simply visit the WolframAlpha search portal and type in “Facebook report” to start the process. You’ll be prompted to create a WolframAlpha account if you don’t have one and to authorize the WolframAlpha Facebook app to access your data. Your Facebook data is cached to your WolframAlpha account for one hour in order to crunch the numbers and display the results. WolframAlpha HTG Explains: How Windows Uses The Task Scheduler for System Tasks HTG Explains: Why Do Hard Drives Show the Wrong Capacity in Windows? Java is Insecure and Awful, It’s Time to Disable It, and Here’s How

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  • Vintage Fan Home Movie Captures the Filming of Return of the Jedi

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    Back in 1982, Jeff Broz and a group of his friends heard the next Star Wars film was being shot out in the California desert so they did what any fan would do; they trekked out into the desert and crashed the set. In this 7 minute home video we’re treated to views of the set, actors at work, and other behind-the-scenes footage of the production of Return of the Jedi. It’s hard to imagine, given modern security practices and secrecy surrounding movies, that a bunch of kids could just walk onto a set and start filming these days. [via Neatorama] HTG Explains: What Is Windows RT and What Does It Mean To Me? HTG Explains: How Windows 8′s Secure Boot Feature Works & What It Means for Linux Hack Your Kindle for Easy Font Customization

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  • Bullet Time in Real Life: Impacts Slowed Down with High Speed Cameras

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    Combine a little shooting range fun with a camera capable of shooting a million frames per second and you’ve got yourself the basis of pretty hypnotizing video. In the video above various rifle and handgun rounds are fired at a variety of materials–sheet metal, plate metal, gelatin–and captured in a halo of fragments and splatters. Have an equally enthralling high speed video to share? Throw a link in the comments! [via Mashable] How To Be Your Own Personal Clone Army (With a Little Photoshop) How To Properly Scan a Photograph (And Get An Even Better Image) The HTG Guide to Hiding Your Data in a TrueCrypt Hidden Volume

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  • What You Said: Tools and Tricks for Scoring Great Deals Online

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    Earlier this week we asked you to share your favorite tools and tips for scoring great deals online. Now we’re back to showcase your money-saving techniques. Our Ask the Readers series gives you, the awesome How-To Geek reader, a chance to share your tips, trick, and technological know-how with your fellow readers right on the front page. Every week we ask a question and every week we round up your tips to share. This week we’re taking a look at your tips and tricks from What Tools Do You Use to Score Great Deals Online.HTG Explains: What Are Character Encodings and How Do They Differ?How To Make Disposable Sleeves for Your In-Ear MonitorsMacs Don’t Make You Creative! So Why Do Artists Really Love Apple?

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  • TableTop: Wil Weaton, Morgan Webb, and Friends Review Pandemic [Video]

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    In the newest edition of TableTop, the board gaming video blog, Wil Weaton and his friends take a look at Pandemic–a challenging cooperative board game that pits players against a viral outbreak. Check out the above video for an overview of the game (although be forewarned they’re playing it on the highest difficulty setting) and then, for more information about it, hit up the Pandemic entry at BoardGameGeek. [via GeekDad] 7 Ways To Free Up Hard Disk Space On Windows HTG Explains: How System Restore Works in Windows HTG Explains: How Antivirus Software Works

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  • This Week in Geek History: Birth of NACA, Chemical Composition of DNA Discovered, Telephone Introduced

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    Every week we bring you new facts and figures from the annals of Geekdom. This week we’re taking a look at the birth of NASA’s forefather, the composition of DNA, and the first telephone. Latest Features How-To Geek ETC Learn To Adjust Contrast Like a Pro in Photoshop, GIMP, and Paint.NET Have You Ever Wondered How Your Operating System Got Its Name? Should You Delete Windows 7 Service Pack Backup Files to Save Space? What Can Super Mario Teach Us About Graphics Technology? Windows 7 Service Pack 1 is Released: But Should You Install It? How To Make Hundreds of Complex Photo Edits in Seconds With Photoshop Actions Access and Manage Your Ubuntu One Account in Chrome and Iron Mouse Over YouTube Previews YouTube Videos in Chrome Watch a Machine Get Upgraded from MS-DOS to Windows 7 [Video] Bring the Whole Ubuntu Gang Home to Your Desktop with this Mascots Wallpaper Hack Apart a Highlighter to Create UV-Reactive Flowers [Science] Add a “Textmate Style” Lightweight Text Editor with Dropbox Syncing to Chrome and Iron

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  • That Physics of Coffee Rings [Video]

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    The rings left behind by coffee cups are distinctly uniform in their distribution–the stain is always around the edge. This video from the University of Pennsylvania’s Physics Department demonstrates why. Check out the above video to see the physics behind the ring-shaped stains and how altering the shape of the particulate in the liquid completely changes the shape of the stain. The Coffee Ring Effect [via Neatorama] HTG Explains: Why Screen Savers Are No Longer Necessary 6 Ways Windows 8 Is More Secure Than Windows 7 HTG Explains: Why It’s Good That Your Computer’s RAM Is Full

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  • Geek Deals: Discounted Monitors, Cheap Peripherals, and Free Apps

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    Looking to save some cash while stocking up on computers, peripherals, apps, and other goodies? Hit up our deal list for discounts on all manner of geeky gear. We’ve combed the net and grabbed some fresh off the press deals for you to take advantage of. Unlike traditional brick and mortar sales internet deals are fast and furious so don’t be surprised if by the time you get to a particularly hot deal the stock is gone or the uses-per-coupon rate has been exceeded. How To Encrypt Your Cloud-Based Drive with BoxcryptorHTG Explains: Photography with Film-Based CamerasHow to Clean Your Dirty Smartphone (Without Breaking Something)

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  • Geek Deal: Refurbished Kindle Fire for $139; Today Only

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    If you’re looking to pick up a Kindle Fire on the cheap, Amazon is offering them–refurbished with a 1-year warranty–for $139. $139 is an even better price than we see on our local Craiglist (where Kindle Fires usually go for $180 or so) and it comes with a 1-year warranty. We’ve purchased several Kindle Keyboard units through Amazon’s refurbished warehouse deals over the last two years and, frankly, we can’t tell them apart from the brand new ones–if you’re looking to pick up a Kindle Fire this is a great deal. Kindle Fire for $139 How to Own Your Own Website (Even If You Can’t Build One) Pt 1 What’s the Difference Between Sleep and Hibernate in Windows? Screenshot Tour: XBMC 11 Eden Rocks Improved iOS Support, AirPlay, and Even a Custom XBMC OS

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  • Roll a DIY Camera Jib for $25

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    Video gear is expensive; save your pennies by building a DIY camera jib for smooth camera movement on a budget. Over at Oliva tech they explain just how few parts you need to build their DIY jib: The guys here at the studio mocked up a simple DIY jib that is not only ridiculously inexpensive to piece together, but also very straight forward. The point of this jib was to get a very wide range of motion from top to bottom with only a few feet of 0.75? square tube, 1? angled aluminum, 1/4? nuts and bolts, and nylon washers is all you’ll need to put the jib together. This light weight jib can be used on small portable tripods, but will require a fluid head for panning left and right. Hit up the link below for a detailed parts list and build guide. How to Make a DIY Camera Jib [via Make] How to Own Your Own Website (Even If You Can’t Build One) Pt 1 What’s the Difference Between Sleep and Hibernate in Windows? Screenshot Tour: XBMC 11 Eden Rocks Improved iOS Support, AirPlay, and Even a Custom XBMC OS

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  • IKEA Lamps Hacked into Flexible Speaker Mounts

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    This simple hack combines the swing arms of two IKEA work lamps with a set of computer speakers for flexible and easily adjustable sound. IKEAHackers reader Bill Dwyer wanted an easy way to get the speakers off his desk but still be able to easily adjust them. By hacking apart two IKEA work lamps (he removed the light assembly and snipped the wires off) he was able to attach his computer speakers to the arms and, in the process, get them off the desk. The arms make it super simple to adjust the speakers exactly where he wants them, including towards other parts of his office/apartment. Hit up the link below to check out more pictures and read Bill’s instructions. Very Flexible Computer Speaker Mounts [IKEAHackers] Use Your Android Phone to Comparison Shop: 4 Scanner Apps Reviewed How to Run Android Apps on Your Desktop the Easy Way HTG Explains: Do You Really Need to Defrag Your PC?

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  • Your Brain by the Numbers [Infographic]

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    Your brain is a rather impressive piece of hardware; check out this infographic to see its specs laid out including power consumption, calculation speed, and more. Hit up the link below for the full resolution image. Your Brain by the Numbers [Scientific America] Why Your Android Phone Isn’t Getting Operating System Updates and What You Can Do About It How To Delete, Move, or Rename Locked Files in Windows HTG Explains: Why Screen Savers Are No Longer Necessary

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  • The Infinite Jukebox Creates Seamless Loops from Your Favorite Songs

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    Why limit yourself to simply listening to a song on repeat when The Infinite Jukebox can use algorithms to turn your song into a seamless and never ending tune? Unlike simply looping a song from the start to the end over and over, The Infinite Jukebox analyzes the song and looks for spots where it can seamlessly transition from one point in the song to a previous point to create a sense of never-ending music. Some songs worked better than others in our testing–Superstition by Stevie Wonder, for example, worked flawlessly but Gangnam Style by Psy got stuck in a short loop that sounded unnatural. Hit up the link below to play with already uploaded MP3s or upload your own to take it for a spin. The Infinite Jukebox How To Use USB Drives With the Nexus 7 and Other Android Devices Why Does 64-Bit Windows Need a Separate “Program Files (x86)” Folder? Why Your Android Phone Isn’t Getting Operating System Updates and What You Can Do About It

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  • Massive Google Street View Update: 250,000 Miles of Roadways, New Special Collections, and More

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    If you like tooling around in Google Street View to check out attractions near and far, you just got a whole lot more to look at. Street View’s new update adds in 250,000 miles of roads, increased coverage in over a dozen countries, and a whole pile of new special collections. From Russia to Taiwan to Canada, there’s thousands of new places and tens of thousands of new roads to explore. Hit up the link below to read the full announcement at the Google Maps blog. Making Google Maps More Comprehensive with Ciggest Street View Update Ever [Google Maps] HTG Explains: What is the Windows Page File and Should You Disable It? How To Get a Better Wireless Signal and Reduce Wireless Network Interference How To Troubleshoot Internet Connection Problems

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  • Connectify Dispatch: Link All Your Network Connections into a Super Pipeline

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    Connectify Dispatch is a network management tool that takes all the connections around you–Ethernet, Wi-Fi nodes, even 3G/4G cellular connections–and combines them into one giant data pipeline. At its most simple, Connectify Dispatch takes all the network inputs available to your computer (be those connections hard-line Ethernet, Wi-Fi nodes, or cellular connections) and merges the separate data connections seamlessly into one master connection. If any of the connections should falter (like your 3G reception goes out), Connectify automatically shifts the data to other available networks without any interruption. In addition you can specify which network Connectify should favor with connection prioritization; perfect for using your cellular connection without breaking through your data cap for the month right away. Hit up the link below to read more about Connectify Dispatch and the companion app Connectify Hotspot. Connectify Dispatch Secure Yourself by Using Two-Step Verification on These 16 Web Services How to Fix a Stuck Pixel on an LCD Monitor How to Factory Reset Your Android Phone or Tablet When It Won’t Boot

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