Shorties

• 10:57 Truck started. #caughtabreak #
• 11:01 Bloomberg Businessweek: "What's Your College Degree Worth?" Carnegie Mellon ranks in top 20: ht.ly/24EYW (via @CarnegieMellon) #
• 12:02 Which do you think is closer to the engineering properties of 96" Spaghetti: 1/2x1/2 MDF or 3/4x3/4 MDF? #
• 14:19 Drafting - Intro, lineweight, lettering #
• 14:21 @caryatiddreams #redundantredundant #
• 15:37 To my Nevada peeps - PLEASE don't ignore Ms. Angle bit.ly/aJNrou #
• 19:03 Save or pitch? bit.ly/cuJ14E Going through old t-shirts. It's possible I should be on "Hoarders" #

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T-Sweep

The "Clean Sweep" people say not to save old t-shirts for sentimental value. Clearly I haven't listened. Here's some shirts that have avoided many purges. Do any deserve to hang around longer.

Lets start with "Work":

From Tshirtpics

This is a fairly recent casualty. It went in the bin because I can't drive past a McDonald's without stopping. Curiously I don't think this one should go to Goodwill, as you have to be certified to get it. Maybe I shouldn't care.

From Tshirtpics

These are from Chicago Scenic, I think from the second time I worked there. The shirt celebrates their 15th anniversary. A quick check of the website says the company is now 30 years old. Maybe I should ask Bob for some new swag.

From Tshirtpics

I am fairly certain this shirt didn't fit when I got it and that the logo on the shirt was no longer used by the company at the time. Still my esprit de corps makes me just nuts about company logowear, so I had to have one.

From Tshirtpics

This isn't a work shirt, but it goes with the last one. I probably spent as much time in their bar as I did at my desk.

From Tshirtpics

This is the back of the "We're the kids who pulled the fire alarm" shirt from TEN. I didn't so much like the slogan, but it really did fit the company (but not so much me, which probably contributed to their letting me go). Makes an interesting shirt though.

From Tshirtpics

This is from when I worked at Hudson Scenic in NYC. Having a Local #1 shirt isn't the same as having a Local #1 card, but I liked being able to claim the association.

From Tshirtpics

Closing out the "work" round are a couple of shirts from the 1996 Democratic National Convention. Probably the largest project I ever worked on, so it gets two shirts.

There's only one work tee that I can think of that I did have that I wish I still had. I have a bunch of Apple Tree swag around someplace, but I don't have one of the original Traveling Troupe shirts from the Workshop. That would be a nice piece to hang on to.

Shorties

• 17:44 Pick up the truck at the shop... and it doesn't start :-/ #
• 19:31 Al Franken wants you to step up: dscc.org/give?donate_page_KEY=8050&amount=x #
• 19:38 TeePee's bullshit reasons for "rescheduling" their national conventional only two weeks in advance. j.mp/9pHKc5 (via @ebertchicago) #
• 19:42 Pre-college students are all around campus, including CFA: bit.ly/bGq7P (via @CarnegieMellCFA) #

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Shorties

• 10:51 Pamela's #
• 12:44 Gonna run my prekies at 150% duty cycle: yfrog.com/jb16666534j #
• 22:24 Very little internet today. #

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Shorties

• 10:13 Hoping today doesn't turn out overly complicated, or expensive. #
• 10:35 @giantspatula there are a lot of people in Pittsburgh having that same Halloween thought this weekend. bit.ly/cNAWvn #
• 13:09 Back on your heads. #
• 14:48 No call from the garage yet :-/ #

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Anniversary Dinner

• Pearsecco
• Salmon & Onion Amuse
• Strawberry Gazpacho
• Smoked Lamb Taco
• Tuna with Roasted Red Peppers, Tempura Asparagus, and Cherry Tomatoes
• Beef Tenderloin with Asparagus and Roasted Potatoes
• Chocolate, Peanut Butter, and Pretzel Candy Bar
• Strawberry Creme Cannoli
• Caramels

Just right. Happy Anniversary Mrs. TANBI

Shorties

• 14:27 Officially waited too long to by Melissa tickets :-( #
• 14:29 @caryatiddreams 8... Wow that's rough. #
• 15:12 @caryatiddreams you go to a good school #
• 15:15 Selling old stuff. Prediction: $12 #
• 15:16 @caryatiddreams hmm. Welcome to stock. If I were the ME I would tell you just to assume you always have to be there. #
• 15:59 @aerdin im not sure I believe you' re coming. #
• 23:43 @aerdin I was surprised to see that on their marqee #

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Shorties

• 11:30 RT @euromandy: Apparently Walnut St. is basically shut down due to the line for iPhones... I love nerds. #
• 11:30 @caryatiddreams important skill #
• 11:39 @48v call Gund? #
• 15:34 Blurry lol: yfrog.com/5oyxij #
• 19:17 wondering how downloading a single thing from my phone to my computer could take 10 minutes when downloading it over 3G took less than 1 #
• 20:19 My phone is doggedly refusing to update its OS. Who knew a phone could be petulant. #
• 20:43 No Apple, I will not pay $29 for you to troubleshoot your locked device which is not working with your software. I guess I'll wait for OS5 #
• 23:08 @giantspatula stifling non-PC joke #

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Today's New Photos

I had to replace what I guess would be his collarbone.



Can you guess where? If I were a sterile carpenter (Orthopedist) instead of a theatre carpenter (technical director) I would have made it out of titanium.

Here's the latest "sweep panorama" trial...


I think it made the pole a little bendy.

Shorties

• 15:40 The Hitchhiker's Guide Reminds You Not to Panic if You Meet a Dalek bit.ly/d6mXyu #
• 15:47 New home sales down 33% - Allegheny Co. home sales up 30% - conclusions? Me either. #
• 19:12 Hokkaido #
• 00:04 The Greenpage has been without updates for a tragic period. I wonder if I will fix that. #

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Um, Maybe Not

This can't be right.

Shorties

• 14:55 Just caught myself planning for summer of 2011. #lifeisfast #
• 15:47 Waiting for a package. I don't think it is coming :-( #
• 17:44 Got my package :-) #
• 17:45 @caryatiddreams perhaps you just lack focus #
• 22:18 @aerdin Yeah, that's not a number #
• 22:20 @giantspatula hmm and here I am waiting for Thursday #

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New Camera

I bought a new camera today. The old camera was 3 Megapixels, this one is 14; it's been a while since I got a new one. This thing shoots images at 5.1 Megabytes. I think I'll be dialing that down.

So, without further ado - cats:


That's Freya.


Bean. There's a guy I know from high school who apparently named his son Bean. Makes me double take every time I see it on Facebook.


Petra. She almost never comes out from under the table. It's her lair.


The camera has a 10x optical zoom. This is taken through our kitchen window, so the steg is maybe 60 feet away.

Then there's this:


The camera does internal stitching in "Sweep Panorama" mode. Have to play with it for a while to see if it's really as neat as it seems.

Shorties

• 11:53 I think too much caf last night. #
• 23:40 Trying out Eastern Daylight Time tonight. #

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Shorties

• 13:32 @mattigray those plans sound better than mine #
• 13:37 Am I the last person who hesitates just a little selecting "regular" at the pump thinking I should look for "regular unleaded?" #
• 14:51 Operation Clutter Clearance #
• 18:52 Anyone interested in two TRS-80 Color Computers and a box of peripherals and software? #foundcleaninggarage #
• 22:17 @caryatiddreams not so fast please #
• 01:28 No matter where I am my internal clock seems to stay on Pacific Time #

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Happy Father's Day

Have a happy father's day dad.



Love David.

Shorties

• 13:10 Vatican loves "The Blues Brothers," National Catholic Register not so much. j.mp/9PzRkn (via @ebertchicago) #
• 15:05 Too full for pie. How sad. #
• 00:56 The sonic screwdriver use is becoming a bit much. #

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Shorties

• 18:41 @KendraSerra I was going to send that to Franco #
• 19:47 Dinner at the Gilboa's #
• 23:35 The end credits of Land of the Lost are much cooler than the movie. #

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Shorties

• 13:05 @aerdin the very essence of "We are they very best there is, and we suck." #
• 20:41 Game 7, BW3, Monroeville #
• 22:23 So far so green. #

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Shorties

• 15:38 I beat Watson! Test your trivia knowledge against IBM's question-answering robot at @nytimes.com - nyti.ms/bz6Z5w #
• 16:46 and I'd thought Facebook had just about killed chain emails. #
• 18:04 Nope, not today either. #
• 20:01 Out with the old and in with the new. yfrog.com/7ghf0j #
• 01:14 tweetphoto.com/27605262 #

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RSS WTF LOL

From There are no bad ideas

Shorties

• 12:07 More MMX #
• 14:59 We've officially gotten to yesterday. #
• 23:51 Game Seven, BW3, Monroeville? #
• 00:29 Hard watching Phil and his kids knowing he passed. #deadliest #

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All In for Drama

What did I do today? Mostly I did today what I was supposed to do yesterday: myself and several other CFA people did a space planning exercise for a new building. It looked a little like this...


The poker chips are each 10 sq ft of space. Yesterday we spent a very long time trying to decide how many of what color chips should be part of the effort. Today in a blizzard of activity toward the end we placed the chips to look at spacing and adjacency.

That first shot was the third basement. It's mostly practice rooms, but also a bunch of shop space. Afterward I was all like "I let down all the tech people... we got the basement." But there was really no way it was going to come out any other way seeing what had to be in the building.


It doesn't look like it, but this is even more shop space and the footprint of two new venues. It's also the second basement, but on one side of the building that's actually open to grade. These shops are the brainchild of Art, Arch, Design, and Drama and the theatres are Art, Music, and Drama.

With a dozen people around the table placing items concurrently you had to work quick and have an agenda or the next time you looked the space would be gone.


So what's in the building? Well, really nothing at this point. It still isn't a building. Right now its an argument for a building. So what's in the argument?

For everyone there are performance and exhibition spaces, all intended to be flexible use. There are meeting rooms, classrooms and rehearsal spaces. There are cooperative shop spaces with carpentry and metals, electrics, and a machine shop as well as a large (albeit subterranean) paint pace, and I think there's a fairly big space for a sign shop. Topping out that list are three large multimedia clusters.

So that's nice.


What's in the argument for Drama? Well to begin with everything above is mixed use, collaborative space. So Drama has access to all of it. In addition to that we carved out space for additional faculty and adjunct offices, grad student studio space, individual practice rooms, and a soft goods shop which could be for goods or costume overflow.


We had an outdoor performance venue on our list, but since it didn't occupy any internal square footage it kind of disappeared today. That doesn't mean it might not come back later - really it should.


The working group was my boss and the other school heads, the incoming and interim dean, and a couple of faculty. So really I was "low man" in the exercise. Probably I had WAY too much to say over the two days. I kept asking if I should disappear a little but never got any prompting to do so. Still it makes me wonder how much noise I would have had to make to get more prominent placement of the support spaces.


The next step is for the facilitators to compare our mosaics to the program we'd developed earlier. All things being equal we shouldn't have had any more or less tiles than we needed, but that doesn't make sure we created as many usable spaces as we were supposed to. Then they need to look at circulation patterns and secondary volumes like staircases, elevators, bathrooms and the like.


Originally we were supposed to do the tile thing four times. For a bunch of reasons we spent a lot of our time doing other things and only did the exercise once. In hindsight I kinda wish we'd been able to do a couple of iterations. There's a social element to the thing that takes a while to settle in and it comes out in the allocation. I think if we did it again I would spend less time talking to people about the requirements of performance spaces and more time gathering turf with windows.

Still: 50 student spaces, 2 theatres, paint space, machine shop, sign shop, soft good shop, CAD clusters... coulda come out worse.

I wonder if we'll build it.

Shorties

• 10:34 MMX Workshop #
• 18:16 @caryatiddreams not normally a requirement #
• 19:15 Sometimes I think I might have a particular knack for disrupting agendas. #
• 01:43 I cannot tell you how much I am over that "I may be in my pajamas..." ad #

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Shorties

• 13:15 Primantis #
• 19:35 RT @jhuntington: creative tony awards streaming now on tonyawards.com #
• 19:36 @giantspatula shoulda warned me ahead of time! #
• 19:39 Award shows with no TV appear to be able to just ZOOM along #
• 19:46 @stagedirections on the zipline? #
• 23:13 @euromandy nobody got smashed in the head with a hangar this year #
• 23:15 @fmsimmons just have to be significant for a day #
• 23:17 I watched the whole Tony broadcast, not sure if I've done that before #
• 23:52 @fmsimmons swell #
• 23:52 @puffskein I will always award you full credit, so sure. #

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Shorties

• 15:35 81. Time for air. #
• 21:22 Note to Mom with the grade schoolers in "Get Him to the Greek": you've chosen poorly. #
• 21:41 Rock Bottom #

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Shorties

• 14:52 I am David's total lack of motivation. #
• 16:35 unsubscribing feeds #
• 00:45 @beccarebec do you think they'll open a Fell? #
• 01:03 Funny People is a really, really long movie. #

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Shorties

• 12:53 Hey radio guy, 58% doesn't constitute "overwhelming" anything. #
• 14:18 Guy on the radio just said my taxes will go up 17% when the Bush tax cuts expire. I wonder if that's true. #
• 14:18 @euromandy mmm free beer #
• 14:41 @aerdin every now and then #
• 14:56 My poor A-Team: bit.ly/cMaX4w another high school memory pillaged #

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Shorties

• 11:57 @caryatiddreams really 30 is the new 21 #
• 11:59 "What evidence in the record shows that a belief based in morality cannot also be discriminatory?" #prop8 (via @KendraSerra) #
• 16:24 Quit bugging Glee. Anyone see the clearances paid on works you did in Band, Chorus, or Drama? Adding that to the show would be zzzzzzzzzzz #
• 16:36 If you are a CMU Drama student, will be in town the 14th and are available for a planning meeting, please shoot me an email. #
• 16:40 @aerdin really looking for DPs, maybe Directing #
• 16:53 @KendraSerra yes, but the way it's currently being depicted is unfortunate, just b/c we dont C it on screen doesn't mean they'd B infringing #
• 17:03 @KendraSerra U R missing my point. It isn't "Glee Law" it's "Glee" If we're going 2 nitpick, problems w/ rights arnt near the top o the list #
• 21:51 RT @ebertchicago: Intelligent Design is bad theology, bad philosophy, bad science, and bad history. j.mp/aCYSmq #
• 23:11 Are the 10 Commandments really the basis for U.S. laws? bit.ly/cWtih5 #

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Drug Money

Source: Online Colleges and Universities

Shorties

• 10:00 It's #ElectionDay in AR, CA, IA, ME, MT, NV, NJ, ND, SC, SD +VA. Go #vote&R/T this message to your friends in these state (via @RockTheVote) #
• 15:18 Today's millwork fee: "Say something nice to someone about CMU" #
• 15:32 @bpeoples ctodd #
• 17:31 Every day I come in thinking I will get through those last two emails, and every day ends with me having that same thought. Tomorrow dammit #
• 17:32 @bpeoples that's not a command I am familiar with #
• 22: 57 Really? None of them are seniors? Maybe to even things out Sue had them all held back too. #
• 22:59 @giantspatula I'd only vote for them if they'd let more than one person sing lead. #

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Return to Good Standing

We have these academic warnings at work. When a student isn't performing they wind up on a warning or on probation. When that happens they get a letter, sometimes called "letter of doom" that explains the warning and what it means. Pretty much I think they go largely unread.

In many cases the student gets it together and the action is positive. In our work meeting this says "RTGS" or "Return to good standing." In the past I'm not sure if we ever did a letter of doom that wasn't gloomy when this happened. This semester we have a new person sending the letters and she asked what we should send when a student returns to good standing.

I suggested this:

Shorties

• 11:39 Walker Brothers #
• 14:00 Security theatre part two #
• 15:13 Flight delay. #
• 18:09 20 is now 412 #
• 22:10 New math: no feed reading for 4 days = All Items (1000+) = Mark all as read #
• 00:27 Doctor Glee? bit.ly/b6bDvn #

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National Spelling Bee protests: Should we simplify English spelling?

If you haven't read this yet, you totally should. It's a great piece, and as good for the writing craft as it is for the content.

National Spelling Bee protests: Should we simplify English spelling? - CSMonitor.com

As an interesting side note, Mrs. TANBI and I have very different reactions to the end of the piece. I think it has something to do with the nature of primary school education at the time when we learned to read. I can read through the text at the end no problem. I think it's because I was toward the end of the school kids that got phonics. Be interesting to know if there's something to that.

Shorties

• 14:49 Lunch with the Kralls #
• 15:51 Furniture and housewares pr0n. #crateandbarrel #
• 16:06 @aerdin actually we're now formally backing the name "Pub" #
• 18:24 Star Trek doors #alinea #
• 19:32 Peas, lobster, sturgeon, crab... #alinea #
• 20:02 Lamb, potato, beef... #alinea #
• 20:07 Truffle ravioli, and I forgot pork after the lobster. #alinea #
• 20:42 Lemon, chocolate, bubble gum. #alinea #
• 20:59 Check, carry the one. #alinea #

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Shorties

• 11:49 Good CSMonitor story about protesters at the Spelling Bee. j.mp/dmtQEK (via @ebertchicago) #
• 11:50 @aerdin that dinner is tomorrow #
• 11:59 When a school caves in to racists and turns the brown faces on a mural of its students into white ones, that is vile. (via @ebertchicago) #
• 12:03 Google insists my parents house is in Glencoe. Really, it isn't. Who do I see about that? #
• 15:18 Michael's should have an "original customer" line. #
• 20:40 Wedding reception #
• 20:41 @aerdin know what goes with two Golden Monkeys? The floor. #
• 20:42 @giantspatula as it turns out, jokes can't be copywritten. #

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Shorties

• 16:09 Waiting in a line #
• 17:34 Line time longer than flight time #
• 17:36 @aerdin it's people what you that CalOSHA requires fall protection at. 18" #
• 20:26 Flatlanders is not what Flatlanders once was. #
• 20:26 @aerdin working on it #

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Shorties

• 13:15 @KendraSerra life in the tubes - wear a cup #
• 13:17 @joshsmith3 it may have been the editing, but I think he was pretty over it #
• 15:26 Just when you think you're going to get something done... #
• 21:09 List: Plane, Wedding, Alinea, Plane #
• 21:22 @caryatiddreams that's how I dress. Not sure it works for me anymore. #
• 22:04 @scoutfinch2271 we were really ha ppy with Moto, figured we'd give Alinea a try #

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Shorties

• 12:13 staying away from campus today #
• 16:04 Might have good Samaritan-ed my way into a chore. Oops. #
• 17:16 @tcschwa isn't the data plan comparable pricewise? they say 90% of customers wouldn't exceed the cap if it existed now. #
• 20:23 RT@ESTAtweets: The official press release on the ESTA-PLASA Merger: bit.ly/cYYi0U bit.ly/aLosxm #
• 23:46 Too bad Chef Kenobi. We'll miss you. #
• 00:19 RT @ebertchicago: British climber conquers Everes t, goes blind. Friends forced to leave him to die. j.mp/cLU1p6 #

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pr0n

1 in 5 men and a little over 1 in 8 women. Maybe they ought to do some research before legally mandating people be fired.

Shorties

• 11:08 RT @CarnegieMellon: Just heard from White House. Pres. Obama's talk tomorrow at CMU will be webcast. We'll have it here: ht.ly/1SvAF #
• 11:20 @bpeoples probably for cameras - could be for exits. Maybe he's talking about athletics? (Probably not here, right?) #
• 14:49 One Important Reason Why We Are Out of Money reason.com/blog/2010/06/01/one-important-reason-why-we-ar #
• 16:14 Limbaugh Is Right: The Gulf Spill Is 'Not Unique' thinkprogress.org/2010/06/01/limbaugh-unique-spil l/ #
• 16:41 Appropriate to be looking at designs for MidSummer during the summer? Perhaps. #
• 19:15 @frontrowcenter5 I've done Moto. Doing Alenia this weekend. #
• 19:18 @caryatiddreams random fact #2, most filters don't catch that gas. SCBA recommended if exposure is substantial, which it pretty never is. #
• 22:34 Attendance at tomorrow's presidential event is by invitation only, but we'll have a webcast: ht.ly/1SN95 (via @CarnegieMellon) #
• 23:09 @ caryatiddreams fresh air and good ventilation are usually a good idea. #
• 23:38 Should I be watching Ashes to Ashes? #
• 23:57 Anyone know anything about the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H55? I'm looking for a new camera. #

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Up a Very Steep and Narrow Staircase

A post a day for the month of June. Unlikely. Does seem like the sort of thing needed to get on track again.

And I do have a few unshared photos.

The last show of the year this time around featured a very long steep staircase. I've decided to share some photos from the installation.

Step One: Bridle enormous steel thing and raise it up...


The play position wasn't parallel to the system pipes we were using as a crane, so the piece needed a little bit of a leash for positioning.

Step Two: Have someone else bolt it to the upper landing...


Thank you Hardwareman. It is worth noting at this point that during this installation my two most used tools were a big stick (I think there's a photo of that on 452's Facebook) for a lever and a Trucker's hitch. You can go a long way with simple machines.

Step Three: Have some idiot, preferably someone covered under workman's comp, go remove the rigging. Maybe take a picture while you're there...


Of course at this moment the thing that concerned me the most was dropping my phone. Did I mention that the staircase as well as being tall and steep also goes into the trap room? No? Well, it also goes into the trap room.

Step Four: Like the box says: "Lather, Rinse, Repeat." Do it again, maybe a little lower this time...


And it's a staircase. Here it is from the house...



All in all not as much of an ordeal going in as we thought. All the parts were bigger and heavier, and you had to move a little more slowly and deliberately, but pretty much it went the same as many lighter things have gone before.

Shorties

• 13:52 RT @ebertchicago: Aren't you getting tired of people hating one another? What do they think they get out of it? #
• 14:23 @golan love that Enter Sandman. The later post making things into Waltzes is cool too. #
• 22:31 Hmm. Paint not sticking. That's a new one. #
• 00:15 Hour after hour of Future Foods. How did I miss this show? #

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