Sabtu, 14 Februari 2009

Interview: Dave Jones

Dave Jones Interview. This photo by Glenn Tempest.
Dave Jones -The man with a quiet voice and supernatural shoulders has a reputation for bold, run out, trad horror shows, including one such ascent captured on film during the making of the well known climbing movie "Hard Grit". With first ascents that include the hardest route at Mt Arapiles, Punks Addition (32), some scary stuff on Taipan Wall and a wealth of bold FA's and repeats throughout the world, it's a wonder Dave has time to earn a living. As a film maker/multi-media designer Dave runs a company called Transience out of Natimuk.
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Vaio P Series, Netbook Bagai Dompet



Jika beberapa vendor netbook berlomba-lomba memacu kinerja produk mereka, lain halnya dengan Sony yang melalui jajaran Vaio P series justru mengedepankan penampilan dan gaya.

Pertama kali diperkenalkan pada Consumer Electronic Show, Las Vegas, Amerika Serikat pada Januari 2009, kini Sony Vaio P series hadir di Indonesia. Sony membawa dua varian untuk Indonesia, VGN-P15G dan VGN-P13H.


Spesifikasi dari keduanyapun tidak terpaut jauh. VGN-P15G menggunakan sistem Windows Vista Home Premium, prosesor Intel Atom Z530 (1.60GHz), dan media penyimpanan solid-state drive (SSD) 64GB. Perangkat ini memiliki bobot 594 gram.

Sedangkan saudaranya, VGN-P13H menggunakan sistem Windows Vista Home Basic, prosesor Intel Atom Z520 (1.33GHz) dan hardisk 60GB. Perangkat ini memiliki bobot 620g.

Sedangan untuk Memory RAM keduanya menggunakan kapasitas 2GB. Keduanya pun memiliki dimensi layar yang sama yaitu 8" wide UWXGA. Meski kecil, layar ini sanggup menampilkan resolusi sampai dengan 1600 X 767 pixel. Ketebalan kedua perangkat ini adalah 20 mm.

Selain spesifikasi di atas Sony Vaio P series juga dilengkapi dengan konetivitas nirkabel seperti WiFi dan Bluetooth. Dengan Instant Mode yang dimilikinya, pengguna dapat menyalakan XMB (Cross Media Bar) dengan tampilan khas Sony. Hasilnya, proses boot up dan akses ke musik, video, foto, serta Web jadi lebih cepat.

Untuk pengguna yang biasa membuka banyak aplikasi Sony Vaio P series menyediakan satu tombol yang bernama 'Windows Arrangement Utility'. Tombol yang terletak di permukaan laptop depan keyboard ini berfungsi untuk mengatur jendela yang dibuka secara otomatis.

Contohnya, saat pengguna membuka dua jendela aplikasi lalu menekan 'Windows Arrangement Utility', maka tampilan akan berubah bak sebuah buku yang halamannya saling berhadapan. Tombol ini sangat berguna jika pengguna cenderung membuka banyak jendela saat menggunakan komputer.

Sony Vaio P series mempunyai empat variasi warna yaitu, Garnet Red, Olivine Green, Obsidian Black dan Crystal White. Di balik warna itu, terdapat tubuh Vaio P Series yang terbuat dari magnesium berlapis.

Untuk yang menginginkan produk ini siap-siap merogoh kocek dalam-dalam. Pasalnya Sony membandrol VGN-P15G dengan harga US$ 1.299 dan VGN-P13H seharga US$ 899, bukan harga yang murah untuk perangkat komputer berbasis Intel Atom.
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Interview: Simon Mentz

Simon Mentz
Simon Mentz - Local reader's will probably best know Simon's name as the co-author of those outstanding guide books Arapiles Selected Climbs, and Grampians Selected Climbs. Other's might have come across his name against numerous starred first ascents that are now considered classics in the Grampians, Mt Buffalo and deep in the heart of the Northern Territory where he established one of the hardest routes of the time. Simon's climbing life has taken him to more distance places like The Nose of El Capitan and the Matterhorn, but his nucleus remains the appealing country life of Natimuk.
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Rabu, 11 Februari 2009

Meksiko Tekan Kejahatan Ponsel Lewat Sidik Jari



Telepon seluler (ponsel) seringkali digunakan sebagai alat untuk tindak kejahatan. Saking banyaknya, Meksiko coba menekan lajunya dengan mulai mendata ponsel beserta sidik jari penggunanya.

Aturan ini mulai diberlakukan Meksiko, April 2009 mendatang.

Disebutkan ada sekitar 700 kelompok kriminal di Meksiko, dan beberapa di antaranya ketahuan menjalankan aksinya saat masih mendekam di tahanan.


Nah, para pelaku kejahatan ini menggunakan ponsel untuk memeras dan meminta tebusan atas penculikan orang yang dikoordinirnya dari balik jeruji besi tersebut.

Kasus penculikan memang marak terjadi di Meksiko. Dilaporkan, ratusan orang menjadi korban penculikan setiap tahunnya.

Sedangkan, mayoritas pengguna ponsel di Meksiko yang jumlahnya kurang lebih 80 juta, menggunakan kartu prabayar dengan nomor yang dapat dibeli secara bebas tanpa tanda pengenal.

Dengan adanya aturan baru tersebut, pengguna akan diminta sidik jarinya ketika membeli ponsel. Sedangkan operator, harus menyimpan informasi ponsel seperti daftar panggilan, SMS, serta pesan suara, yang di kemudian hari bisa dipergunakan sebagai alat bukti pengadilan atas suatu kasus kejahatan.

Sementara, pengguna yang merasa kehilangan ponselnya harus segera melaporkan secepatnya, untuk mencegah penyalahgunaan perangkat tersebut sebagai alat untuk tindakan kriminal.


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Google Bantu Turunkan Tagihan Listrik



Raksasa internet Google siap meluncurkan inovasi baru. Mereka bakal membantu para pengguna melacak tingkat penggunaan energi listrik di rumah tangga secara mudah.

Langkah ini adalah usaha Google dalam berpartisipasi menurunkan gas rumah kaca yang membahayakan lingkungan. Sebelumnya, Google telah berinvestasi pada teknologi ramah lingkungan seperti pemanfaatan tenaga surya.


Dalam blog resmi perusahaan, Google menyatakan sedang mengembangkan tool yang dinamakan Google PowerMeter. PowerMeter akan menunjukkan skala konsumsi energi rumah tangga secara real time di komputer pengguna.

Diharapkan, hal itu membuat konsumen hemat listrik. Ujung-ujungnya, gas rumah kaca dari produksi listrik bisa turun. Google juga mengambil contoh hasil studi bahwa jika pengguna punya kemudahan akses terhadap informasi semacam itu, tagihan listrik dapat dihemat sampai 15 persen per bulan.

"Jika separuh rumah tangga Amerika memotong permintaan energi 10 persen saja, itu sama dengan mengambil 8 juta mobil dari jalanan," papar Google seperti dari Reuters

Saat ini, Google PowerMeter belum tersedia untuk publik. Google masih berusaha menjalin kerja sama dengan beberapa perusahaan terkait dan rencananya baru akan melemparkan PowerMeter beberapa bulan mendatang.

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Minggu, 08 Februari 2009

BlackBerry Paling Ramping



Mengetahui bahwa BlackBerry kian populer di Indonesia, Research In Motion memperbanyak pilihan produknya di tanah air. Kali ini, penggila perangkat pintar tersebut dimanjakan dengan BlackBerry tertipis, teringan dan pertama yang berbentuk Flip.


Curve 8900 -- BlackBerry yang diklaim paling tipis dan ringan -- memang tampak tak segemuk 'saudara-saudaranya'. Dengan ukuran 109 mm x 60 mm x 13,5 mm dan berat sekitar 110 gram, membuat produk ini lebih nyaman ketika digenggam.

Sayangnya kalau dari sisi fitur, RIM tak banyak memberikan sesuatu yang baru di Curve. Malah kalau dibandingkan dari pendahulunya, BlackBerry Bold, Curve seolah masih kalah kelas karena belum mendukung 3G alias baru sebatas EDGE.

Namun hal itu lumayan bisa tertutupi dengan keandalan fiturnya, seperti kemampuan kamera 3,2 megapikselnya yang mampu menampilkan gambar cerah di layar 2,4 inch HVGA+ (480 x 360) miliknya. Fasilitas koneksi Wi-Fi dan GPS juga menjadi fitur andalan di smartphone yang diperkuat dengan prosesor 512 MHz ini.

Selain Curve, RIM juga telah membawa BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 ke tanah air. Produk ini merupakan BlackBerry pertama yang berdesain clamshell.

Meski berbentuk Flip, RIM tetap mengusung keyboard Qwerty di produk ini. Fitur lain sepertinya standar dengan 'saudara-saudaranya' dan belum dilengkapi 3G pula.

Yakni dilengkapi kamera 2 megapiksel, stereo bloetooth, memori yang bisa menampung hingga 16 GB serta fitur multimedia lainnya.

Flip memang tak hanya ditujukan bagi pengguna yang menggunakannya untuk kebutuhan pekerjaan, tapi yang juga memikirkan fashion alias gaya hidup.

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Ditemukan, Alkitab dari Zaman Yesus


lnicosia – Pejabat di utara Cyprus yakin telah menemukan Alkitab kuno yang ditulis dalam bahasa Syriac, dialek asli Yesus. Manuskrip ditemukan polisi saat melakukan penggerebekan terhadap penyelundup barang antik.

Polisi menyatakan manuskrip itu berumur 2.000 tahun. Alkitab itu ditulis dengan huruf emas.

Ilmuwan masih meneliti apakah manuskrip itu benar asli atau palsu.

Ilmuwan mengatakan penggunaan huruf emas pada manuskrip digunakan setelah 2.000 tahun.

"Kemungkinan kurang dari 1.000 tahun,” kata Peter Williams, dari University of Cambridge seperti dikutip dari Reuters.

Penyelundup terjaring operasi polisi pekan lalu dan sembilan di antaranya ditahan untuk menunggu penyelidikan selanjutnya. Beberapa tersangka lagi sedang dicari dan berhubungan dengan penyelundupan itu.

Penyelidikan lanjutan menemukan patung pendoa serta batu bergambar Yesus. Polisi mengenakan tuduhan penyelundupan barang antik, melakukan pencarian barang purbakala secara ilegal dan menyimpan bahan peledak.

Syriac merupakan dialeg asli yang digunakan oleh Yesus. Dialeg ini digunakan di wilayah Timur Tengah dan Asia Tengah
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Samsung ES10 8.1 MP

Kamera digital Samsung mendapat jajaran baru ES10. Kamera ini memiliki resolusi luar biasa 8.1 MP.

Samsung ES10 didukung CCD image sensor 2.5 inci dengan optical zoom 3x serta LCD 2.5 inci. ES10 ini juga memiliki fitur dasar yang ada pada kamera kebanyakan.

Samsung menambahkan fitur unggulan pada teknologi Face Detection atau deteksi wajah sehingga lebih mutakhir. Selain terdapat fitur Self-Portrait dan mode Beauty Shot (soft-filter) untuk menyediakan cara termudah untuk menghasilkan foto kualitas tinggi.

Fitur Digital Image Stabilization disediakan Samsung untuk mengambil foto dengan detail yang jelas, meskipun dalam pencahayaan yang tinggi. Sementara Jpeg motion engine untuk merekam video dalam resolusi VGA.

Samsung ES10 baru akan tersedia dengan warna silver, hitam, putih dan pink, dengan harga yang akan dirilis beberapa pekan ke depan
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Jomblo Sasaran Empuk ‘Cybercriminal’



Hati-hatilah mencari pasangan menjelang Valentine. Semakin banyak penipuan email yang ditebar oleh 'cybercriminal' atau penjahat maya untuk menjebak korban. Caranya pun sangat unik, sehingga korban tak sadar jika telah menjadi korban penipuan.

"Penyerang terus memiliki cara kreatif untuk menjebak korban, agar memasang software berbahaya," kata Lenny Zeltser dari SANS Internet Storm Center.

Begitu pula saat Presiden AS Barack Obama fokus pada stimulus ekonomi, spammer juga membuat versi “paket stimulusnya” sendiri, kata Dermot Harnett, insinyur antispam di Symantec.

"Tingkat Spam terus naik meskipun McColo sudah ditutup, 79 persen email pada saat ini adalah spam. Menyangkut situasi ekonomi yang makin buruk, jumlah spam yang berhubungan dengan stimulus ekonomi terus melonjak," kata Harnett.

Harnett mencontohkan salah satu spam mengaku berasal dari Internal Revenue Service dan meminta peneriman email untuk mengisi form daftar penerima stimulus ekonomi. Hal itu sejatinya hanya merupakan taktik untuk menjebak orang agar memberikan informasi pribadi yang seharusnya dirahasiakan.

Contoh lain beredarnya email yang menawarkan hibah stimulus ekonomi. Untuk mendapatkan dana pemerintah itu, penerima diinstruksikan untuk mengirim nomor rekening dan PIN.



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Jumat, 06 Februari 2009

Tyrolean Traverse

Tyrolean Traverse On Lost Arrow SpireContributed to Chockstone by Phil Box.

(Neither Phil, nor Chockstone takes any responsibility for the accuracy of this article, or it's suitability for the purpose. Use at your own risk. Chockstone Photography | Landscape Photography Australia | Australian Landscape Photography

Please read the full disclaimer).

Okay we're going to talk about a simple Tyrolean traverse in terms of what it means to a climber and using the gear that a climber would ordinarily have at hand assuming that said climber has the basics of self rescue gear.

For clarity's sake lets call me the narrator and then we have climber A and climber B. We will be starting from this side, East, and going over to the other side of the chasm to the west and then back across the void to this side, East again.

Right: Tyrolean Traverse from Lost Arrow Spire. Photo by Marten Blumen.

You want to climb a pillar that you don't want to abseil and have to then climb that steep scree slope, solution, Tyrolean traverse. You will need to attach a rope to a dirty great anchor before you leave down the scree slope on the East side. This is best achieved with a no knot or friction knot; three wraps around a giant tree and then institute a figure of eight on the bight at the end of the rope and clip the end of the rope to the main line. Voila we now have the strongest knot known to man i.e. there is no appreciable decline in the rope strength using this knot.Climbers rap into the chasm and lead up the other side.

We will have the other end of the rope attached to us at all times now. You may as well rap using this rope seeing as it's there and all. So be off with you down the slope then, there you go (climber A). Off goes the second (climber B) to join our leader at the bottom. There do you see him on belay, don't they make a picture? Up the other side he goes (pictured left), whoa, watch him he nearly took a whipper. Dude, the hand goes in the crack, damn face climbing Victorians. Oh yeah, ahem, where were we? There goes the second to join our leader at the top of the pinnacle (Over on the west side).

Left: Climbers rap into the chasm down the East side and lead up the other, West side.

So now we've got two climbers on the other side (West) of a chasm with a rope tied to a bomber anchor on this side (East) of the maw. Our leader (climber A) will now tie the rope to another bomber anchor (West side). He can use a traditionally built trad anchor for the time being. Into this anchor he will have two locking biners that the Tyrolean line will be placed using a muenter mule knot. He will now build a haul system utilizing a z drag. The Tyrolean line will now be tightened.

It's actually better to not tighten the line too much but you need to tighten sufficiently so that you don't have too much slack otherwise you'll end up at the bottom of the chasm due to rope stretch. Tighten too much and you'll place undue pressure on the anchor due to the torque multiplying effect. Remember your angles for effective anchor building, if you go over 120 degrees you will be adding strain on each anchor in multiples of force greater than the force that you are applying at the single point, thus on a Tyrolean traverse you may only weigh say 80 kgs but the force on each anchor may be many multiples of that, we're talking huge numbers here. Therefore if you have zero sag in your line you could conceivably either pull that tree out or break the rope. Give the rope a bit of sag and don't stretch it too tight.

The reason for the z drag and the muenter mule is that you can pull sag out of the rope and then shuffle the loose section of rope through the muenter and repeat as necessary to achieve the desired tightness in the rope. The Muenter mule is a way of tying off a muenter hitch.Climber B traverses back to the East Side.

Send the lightest climber back across to the East side first (Climber B). He should be clipped in by his belay loop and a biner and as well he should have jumars to pull himself up from the apogee of his descent. If I might explain a little more, the first back across will of course create some sag in the rope due to his weight he will enjoy a glide downwards until he gets to about midway from there it is all uphill.

Right: Climber B (the lightest) tyrolean traverses back to the East Side first.




The first back across can also be belayed down to the midpoint and then make his own way by way of jumars up from midway point. The advantage of another rope on the first back across will become apparent when we see the necessity to retrieve everything from atop the pinnacle (West).

So now we have one climber on this side (East) and one climber on tuther (insert Yorkshire pommy gardener accent here) side (West). Climber A on other side (West) now has to attach the two ropes together using either an overhand knot or triple fisherman's knots. He will do this before releasing any tension from the system. He will release the muenter mule but not release the z drag. He will also have been searching for a convenient bomber natural anchor that he can run the rope around before he joins the two ends together.

Heh heh look at him running around in circles looking for a dirty great tree that isn't there. He'll just have to settle for slinging the rope around that giant boulder perched precariously (nah it's bomber) on top of the pile. Okay he's got his anchor sorted so now it's over to the climber B on this side of the gulch. Hey buddy, enjoy the ride. Down to the bidness bro, guess what, hope you were paying attention over there on the west side cos you've gotta do exactly the same thing over here dude, that's right tension the other rope you just brought over. Run that rope around that giant tree (on the East side) just like the other one (also on the East side) and then set up a z drag to pull some tension into the rope. There ya go just pull it up just like the other one dude, you've done this before why am I even telling you this? So now on this side (East side) we have two ends of rope running around the tree using no knots and figure of eights on the bight clipped to the main lines.
Climber A also traverses back to the East side.
Climber A on other side (West side) can now release his z drag. As climber A is attaching himself to the traverse he will have two ropes to choose from. He can be attached to one and use the other one as a back up. The best rope to attach himself to is the rope that does not have the joining knot in it as it will be on the other side of the giant boulder. The strand or line with the knot in it will be slightly less strong than that without if you get my drift. Obviously our second traverser (climber A) will repeat exactly the manoeuvres that the first went through to cross the void.

Left: Climber A also tyrolean traverses back to the East side.

So now we have our two heroes back over on this side (East) and they can now simply retrieve their rope by pulling it from this side as it is simply run around the natural anchor on the other side (West) of the chasm. Obviously they will pull the strand with the knot on this side of the boulder so that the knot does not have to be pulled all the way around the boulder. Imagine it as just like having to pull a rap rope that has a knot in it through an anchor, you would pull the knot side down and not the free side down as it is obvious that you cannot pull a knot through an anchor can you?


In Summary
Push For The Summit

To make the concept really simple, a rope is dragged across from the East side then a second rope is joined to the first on the West side and the second rope is dragged back across to the East side so that we now have two ropes spanning a void. There will be a knot where the two ropes are joined. This knot will be set up something like how you would set up a knot for a twin rope abseil. You do not want this knot halfway down the abseil nor do you want this knot halfway across the tyrolean traverse. You will have to do a bit of tensioning of these ropes across the void and to do that you will need anchor knots that are easy to adjust but are absolutely bomber under load and as close to 100 percent rope strength. You will also need to be proficient at z drag hauling to be able to achieve the desired rope tension. You will need to be able to set bomber anchors from which to do your hauling and tensioning.

The thing that really needs stressing is that you will be placing a lot of faith in the anchors you will be using so make sure they are good ones. Another thing that bears mentioning is that when you are at the bottom of the traverse and are ready to come up the other side you will need to prevent yourself from sliding back down the rope as you make your way up. This is very much like a sort of sideways jug so you will be needing 2 prussiks or 2 jumars. Mate it can be hard work particularly if you have a pack to haul. Don't wear it on your back. Suspend it from the biner attached to the rope. It might even be suggested to wear a chest harness to keep yourself from inverting as you grow tired.

Do we need to go through all the disclaimers again, ya orta know it all off by heart by now and of course all climbers know that they take responsibility for their own actions. Climbers generally are the sort of people who know how to assess risk and would never do anything to jeopardise their own or their partners safety so obviously if you are going to take any of this advice then you will of course try this all out in a completely risk free and safe environment and test, test, test and then do a bit more research to confirm in your own mind that the system works.


Use Of Pulleys Push For The Summit

A word of caution when using a pulley in a tyrloean traverse. You should definitely use two pulleys or a double inline pulley which is meant for aerial cableways. The use of a single pulley has resulted in deaths when a load shift happens and the sheave of the pulley is overloaded and it can be twisted off the axle. Two pulleys or the double inline pulley have the necessary redundancy and resistance to the twisting load. The large knot passing Kootenay pulley from Petzl or similar design pulleys from other manufacturers are fine. If you have no alternative to using a small pulley then do use a screwgate biner backup independent of the pulley.


The "No Knot" Push For The Summit

No Knot for tying off a treeI'm referring to the "no knot" as the friction knot. What you do is take the end of the rope and throw it around a tree three times. The tail of the rope you place a figure of eight on the bight and clip that to the main line which of course is the other tail of the rope that you sent three times round the tree. Really this is almost too simple a concept and should not be overcomplicated. We teach the strength and simplicity of this knot by demonstrating how effective simply running the rope around a tree and trying to pull it, it won't undo, the figure of eight on the bight is simply there to ensure that the wraps won't work their way around the tree during the load/unload cycles of rapping.



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Alpine Butterfly

The Alpine Butterfly is a midline knot sometimes used to tie in the middle man during glacier travel. It has found a use, instead of a clove hitch, when equalising anchors for a top rope set up (in specific circumstances). Also sometimes used in Tyrolean traverses. It's easier to untie, after being weighted, than a figure eight and uses less rope. Follow these steps to tie the Alpine Butterfly:




Hey, I resemble that remark!

Step 1Step 2
Step 1: Form a loop in the rope. Step 2: Twist the loop, so that it becomes two loops as shown above.
Step 3Step 4
Step 3: Grab the top of the upper loop and fold it underneath the line. Step 4: Continue the wrap, feeding it back through original loop.
Step 5
Step 5: Pull tight and clip your load to the protruding loop.


Reader's Feedback Push For The Summit

"...The best way [ to tie an Apline Butterfly ] is to simply coil the rope around your hand so that there are three strands on your upturned hand. You then take the coil closest to your fingers and take it back towards your wrist. You then take the coil which is now closest to your fingers and take it towards your wrist except this time you will feed this coil underneath and through the coils which are left on your upturned hand. You will then have a bight of rope protruding through these coils and it will be pointing towards your fingers. Take hold of the bight in your teeth and pull the two ends of the rope that are coming in towards the knot. Voila, you now have a simple to tie Alpine Butterfly. This way of tying is way less able to be stuffed up than that which is illustrated. It's also much easier to accomplish". - Phil Box.

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Girth Hitch ("Lark's Foot")

The Girth Hitch, also known as the Lark's Foot, is useful for tying a sling to your harness. It's probably the simplest knot you can form with a sling, and this is perhaps why it is so popular. It has many other potential applications (such as extending a runner, joining two slings together, etc), however, be warned: the knot will reduce the strength of the sling.

Girth Hitch (Click To Enlarge)There is debate among climbers as to how significant is this reduction in strength, and whether the alternatives, such as joining two slings with a carabiner, are indeed much better. It is accepted that using a Girth Hitch to join two slings is weaker than joining with a carabiner, however using the carabiner you've got other issues such as carabiner cross loading, loading over an edge, etc. Plus the fact that it takes away one more precious locking carabiner from your rack. Never-the-less, almost all resources I've read do NOT recommend joining two slings with a Girth Hitch. The only approved application seems to be tying a sling to your harness.

Above Right: This picture shows two slings joined with a Girth Hitch. This is NOT recommended. Use a locking carabiner to join slings.

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