Wednesday, June 16, 2010

HURRAY!!! ERASMUS BURN!

YEAH!
I got accepted into the University of Glasgow! for Erasmus!
Hurray!
I will be spending 3 to 5 months in Scotland! Studying and learning in english!
that's a lot for a small girl who never was on a plane and hasn't seen much besides her own country of Portugal and a little of Spain.
I'm going to have so much fun! and learn so much, it's gonna be such a fantastic experience!
I applied for Erasmus because my greatest dreams have always been to travel around the world and to write a book or more about it.
And to think I'm finally beguining to furfill that dream, it's just...
Astonishing!
Why the UK? because I simply knew I need a country where they spoke english, to start with! since I can't speak anything besides my onw language and english, lol And why Glasgow? because Scotland truly speaks to my heart, it's tradictions, landscape and the University! heavens, it's like a castle, truly a dream come true. I feel like a princess, a very studious and hard working princess though! can't embarass my own University, I'll be representing my all country after all!
Oh gods! my heart is jumping with joy!
I actually got accepted into Bristol first, but I just wanted to go to Glasgow so much, besides my mom wouldn't accept Bristol as a replacement, so I decided to wait, and guess what? the girl who had taken my glasgow-opening got sick and can't go!
So, guess who is right back on track?!
ME!!!!!!!!
Wish me luck!
When I write here again I will probably be on international space!
Oh, I love my life!
And I love you who are reading this! I love you so much! regardless if your are just someone who stumbled upon this by chance, if you are someone who knows me or if You are Me from the future, thank you! thank you for reading, thank you for caring! and thank you for letting me share with you my joy, my utter happiness in life, and my love for you, for the guy who came up with the Erasmus program, and for life.
My love to all, always,
+scalvim+

Thursday, March 18, 2010

A Burn Of Innovation

I had to do a "pecha kucha" (means chit-chat, in japanese) for my english class, it basically consist of an oral presentation, together with a slide show in a 20X20 model (20 slides, 20 seconds each).
The theme was innovations of the 20/21 century. I thought internet. Then cell phones. And while I was doing my research I came across this:

CELL PHONE NOVELS

to know more about this new and amaizing innovation, try reading this artical on the New York Times:
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/12/22/081222fa_fact_goodyear#ixzz0iXaoX4LN


Either way, check out my apresentation!

1 slide

Hi! My name is Sara and I have a question!
How many people here have cell phones?
Come on! Raise your hand! I don’t have all the time in the world!

Just as I thought…
And I bet many of you can’t even imagine life without a cell phone, well I’m sorry to inform you, it’s possible!
Thousands of people trough thousands of years lived without cell phones and without even having a idea of what the hell a cell phone was!
In fact the idea itself is quite modern! Created in the eighties!
But before you get carried away, no, my work is not about cell phones… it’s about cell phone novels!
-------------------------

2 slide

What is a cell phone novel?

For those of you, who have never even heard of this, relax!
I was surfing down the net, when something interesting caught my eye.
This!
Apparently cell phones are used so prominently in Japan (and other Asian countries like South Korea and China) that people read entire novels on their cell phones. The serialized portions are released periodically over a period of time and since only 140 characters can be read on a cell phone screen at most, the portions are extremely short. Some people are comparing it to what Charles Dickens did in the 19th century with his novels, serializing them chapter by chapter.Out of the top ten bestselling novels in Japan last year (2007), five of them were mobile phone novels.
----------------------------

3 slide

The first cell phone novel was published in Japan in 2003 by a young online writer, Yoshi.
His first cell phone novel was called Deep Love, the story of a teenaged prostitute in Tokyo.
It became so popular that it was published as an actual book, with 2.6 million copies sold in Japan, then spun off into a television, a manga, and a movie.
The cell phone novel became a hit mainly through word of mouth and gradually starting to gain traction in China and South Korea among young adults.

Later on, it spread! and is now available pretty much everywhere!
Europe, USA, Africa...

Within three years of its release the cell phone book’s download site had accumulated over 20 million hits. Now some of the book companies are already starting to use this idea.
Harlequin, the famous romance novel publishing house, now provides a subscription service called Harlequin On The Go, which delivers serialized Harlequin stories directly to users cell phones.
Already there are a wide variety of book types available for cell phones, including non-fiction, poetry, graphic novels, short stories, and whole novels.
---------------------------------

4 slide

Ok, so everyone is thinking: “of all the amazing inventions out there…”
But hear me out!

I thought: Cell phones and schools are not usually associated together, at least not in a good way.
But this form of technology is one that has been undergoing great leaps and improvements, and perhaps one day soon teachers will be reprimand students for forgetting to bring their cell phones to class, or teachers will be listening to excuses from the student who didn’t complete his reading homework because the phone battery was recharging.
After all most of the functions we have now with a computer, are already or will soon be available in your cell phone!
-----------------------------

5 slide

And before anyone dismisses the idea of using cell phones for reading, consider how readily available these tools are.
If you care to look at the statistics you will find that in 2003, 70% of middle and high school students and 61% of upper elementary students had cell phones, and the numbers have only been growing since then.
Just looking at how the average high school students of today spends their time shows some of the differences from previous generations, as today’s students weekly spend more time on the internet (about 16 hours) than watching television (about 13 hours), and still find time for talking on the phone (about 7 hours) this without mentioning texting messages!

We have to move with the times!
------------------------------

6 slide

Ok, so let me tell you more about cell phone novels now that you’re beginning to see the advantages:
Popularized about five years ago, these novels are posted to the Web by authors who write them on their phones, constrained by the limitations of the medium.Then they are released electronically as serials, They are called keitai shousetsu.
The most successful of them are published on paper in a format that mimics the cell phone experience. Some are adapted into manga comic books and movies.
aIn the first six months of 2007, half of the top 10 bestselling novels in Japan were originally thumbtyped on a phone, and have averaged 400,000 copies each in sales.
Most of these novels are written by women, and involve some seriously messed-up subject matter.
--------------------

7 slide

Popularity spreading beyond young girls
The popularity of the genre is spreading beyond young girls.
Ten of the bestselling printed novels in Japan in 2007 were based on cell phone novels, and each sold around 400,000 copies. Strikingly, the sales were strongest for costly hardcovers, which readers who had already experienced the work on their cell phone screens bought as memorials. Starts alone has released 40 titles that have sold 10 million copies.
-------------------

8 slide

At the same time, parents and critics are concerned that these works, with their substandard grammar and focus on violence and sex, might be a bad influence on the young women and grade school girls that are their many dedicated readers.
One grade school teacher wrote a scathing review of “Koizora” (2005), calling it a “crime of the media” and suggesting that the story — which involves a young girl in a tumultuous relationship with a juvenile delinquent
"The stories traverse teen romance, sex, drugs and other adolescent terrain in a succession of clipped one-liners, emoticons and spaces (used to show that a character is thinking), all of which can be read easily on a mobile phone interface. Scene and character development are notably missing. "

The answers to this accusations about the themes vary, but mostly people say:
---“Aah. So it's basically simple teen literature? Well, that's okay then.”

-----------------------

9 slide

Most critics believe that the furor will die down.
“The era of selling a million copies of one book is over, with the rising number of writers and the shrinking number of youth in Japan,” they says. “However, this is a very sturdy industry that will continue to mature and grow.”

Not everyone is so sure. “I think Japanese readers, publishers and society wish for cell phone novels to have more impact than they do,” said Kim, 37, a researcher at the University of Tokyo who has studied the cell phone novel phenomenon. “The point is, how long it will last.”

For the writers part, they don’t seem interested in the long term anyway. “I really haven’t thought about what to do from now,” Kiki, the writer of 'I, Girlfriend' says. “If people think for a second that my free-writing in cell phone novels is interesting, that is enough. I want to keep on writing like that.”
-------------------

10 Slide

I'm not sure it is agood thing some of the best selling novels in Japan last year were written with no more than two thumbs and some spare time.
Nevertheless, it is getting people to read, and some of the writers are actually interested in improving their craft.
Personally, I love books.
I could never imagine using a tiny device that could store my entire library of books onto one small, portable chip, let alone reading it off of a thumbnail sized screen.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have some music to go listen to, right after I charge up my...oh...crap.

The end

Wanna try it?!
Go right ahead!

Software for creating Java books:
BookReader by Tequilacat http://tequilacat.nm.ru/dev/br/index-en.html
ReadManiac http://www.deep-shadows.com/hax/ReadManiac/index.htm
mjBook4: http://www.mjsoft.nm.ru/booke.htm

Online for creating Java books:
t41 readme: http://www.t41.nl/

Existing cell phone book libraries:
Audiobooks For Free: http://www.audiobooksforfree.com/
HaperCollins: http://mobilereader.harpercollins.com.au/
Harlequin On The Go: http://store.eharlequin.com/splash/mobile_intro.jhtml
MobileBooks: http://www.mobilebooks.org/
tx2ph: http://www.tx2ph.com/

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

101 Things I Will Do, Before My Life Burns Away!

1. I will finish University!
I know it sound banal, but it's a very important thing! And it's not just about finishing it, it's about doing so with good grades that I can be pround of and most of all ending the third or fourth year, and leving University with the feeling that I actually learned something, that even if I never use in my work life, at least I enjoyed learning and knowing them has somehow, help me grow and improve as a person.

2. I'll go on ERASMUS!
Once again same theory, I don't really need to go to erasmus, it not essecial to my life, or my future career. But I have never really travelled far, and I know I can do it! why don't people let me try?! (people being the Erasmus administrators at school! I don't really know if they will let me go, most precisely if they will give me enough money on the schoolarship, so that my mom will let me go, I kow I know, momma's girl.)
I really want this! to travel far, hear everyone speak the language I love: english, and to try out new stuff. To learn about a different culture, different people and that strange, new world out there!
~~more to come~~
(writen on a school computer, shool's computers sucks!)
See you when butter flies...
scalvim signs out!

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Love Is Like A Flame: It May Not Burn Forever, But While It Burns, It Burns The Brightest...

There was something about her that caught his attention.

She wasn’t particularly pretty, smart or stylish.

But to him, she was seasoned to his liking: a smooth blend of wit, confidence, with just a pinch of raw sugar.

She found him talented, intelligible, and his sense of humor was as dry as gin.
He exuded a refreshing innocence that she eagerly embraced.

Whether he was talking back or just talking smack, it kept the corners of her mouth from turning down and she was happy.

Their union, however awkward, never felt more perfectly fitted than as when they were together.

All rules of time and logic did not apply as these two love birds scurried through the night.

As winter turned to spring, spring turned into summer, summer turned to fall, and fall inevitably turned back into winter, the days fell shorter and so was their time spent together.

Soon their moments turned into memories, and the memories that kept them going, faded away.

They were never meant for forever, but they were meant.

And that’s more than we can all hope for.

To my boyfriend

At classes, walking home, washing the dishes, while reading or listening to music, brushing my teeth, but mostly when my eyes open and right before I go to sleep.
In the most unlikeliest of places do I wonder where you are, what you’re doing, how you’re feeling, if you’ve eaten and wishing you a smile from miles away.
You are the first and last thought I have each day.
You win...
...missing you

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

101 Things I Must Do Before My Light Burns Out!!!

I was advised to start a series, in order to try to establish a "regular blogging schedule".
All this because I only post sporadically...
oh well, it's not like anyone actually reads my blog...
Yes, its sad, I know... since I'm Portuguese and most of my friends don't have a blog, most can't even read English that well...
Still I will continue to write!
In the eternal belief that someday someone will read this, and review...
I hope that someone, is you!
or if it isn't, well I can just keep writing for myself, maybe just to reared someday!

So moving on to my series:
101 THINGS I MUST DO !!!
(They won't be in any particular order, just how it comes up to me!)

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Light A Candle For ANIME

This 'Light A Candle for ANIME' is my new project, the objective of this project is to enlighten people's minds to Anime and to definitively erase the preconceived ideas that some many people have about anime. The way some people consider it only appropriated for children, like cartoons, and don't look at Anime as a form of Art. So here it is! A list... that you should burn into your psyche!

THE LIST OF BEST ANIME EVER!


ANIMES I FINISHED (In order of Enjoyment)

1. Death Note (I thought this would be boring. The HELL it ain't! If you want a real show, look no further! It's violent, psychotic, full of mind games and has the deepest, sadistic, hottest badboy since Sephiroth, named Light! He just rocks my world. And there's just something about L to love and admire!)

2. Chrono’s Crusade (WHY DOES EVERYONE HAVE TO DIE?!)
A.N: This anime is in 2º place, because it was one of the first great anime series I saw on TV, 'sic radica'l. And Kaleido Star (I know this anime has absolutely nothing to do with “Chrono’s Crusade”, but it’s also an anime that I saw on TV, on 'canal panda' and helped getting me addicted in anime!) Urusei Yatsura! (It doesn’t have to do with anything! But it’s amazing! Really I can’t describe it, so I will just say it’s so damn FUNNY!)

3. Ouran High School Host Club (FUNIEST SERIE EVER!!! and I want a new season! THIS is my absolute favourite shoujo series of all time! Seriously, see it. You WON'T regret it!)
Second place on romantic animes goes to… Saiunkoku Monogatari (Tale of Saiunkoku is a Beautiful History Novel; Saiunkoku is an astonishing Main Character and so is the Emperor, and it’s just such a sweet, rewarding story!)…
Third place goes to: Skip Beat! (AMAZING! Fun, fun, fun! Striking love triangle and the secondary characters really make the story perfect, can’t wait for the second season. The manga is the best!)
Then at last, we have Fruits Basket (With cute characters, great references to Chinese mythology, and I never get the ending. It’s so emotional!!! Sad and at the same time, so sweet! It has one of the most adorable heroines ever! The manga sucks, though…) This anime happens to be an harem type anime, and some people don’t really like this genre, but I love harem types! Because harems always bring out the worst in people. Good stuff.lol.
Harem type is basically an anime where "the main character is a regular guy/girl, normally a rather awkward adolescent, and is surrounded by all kinds of beautiful, cute and funny people, who all, or most of have a crush on him/her" Other fun example is Vandread (This last one is a boy surrounded by women, but the others above are girls, surrounded by beautiful men. Except Skip Beat! That one is just a extraordinary love triangle!)

4. Yakitate! Japan (Come on it’s a serie about bread! And it’s so freaking funny! Lots of references to Japanese culture!) Cooking Master Boy (It’s the best Chinese cooking show EVER! With great references to Chinese history, culture and everyday life, it’s so yummy!!!)

5. The Prince of Tennis (This serie rocks! I cannot get enough of the boys and their moves. And he’s like... really cute! Greatest anime eyes ever! and believe me, in anime eyes, there’s a lot of competition, so this is a though spot to get! A must watch, even if you don’t like tennis you have to LOVE this anime!)
I LOVE SPORTS ANIME! Other very good one is One Outs (about baseball and gambling from the same guy, who made Akagi and Kaiji), and Eyeshield 21 (is about American football, and it’s really, like really great, beautiful character development, from a bullied, small cowardly kid, to a hero in making, with an extraordinary ability, and still extremely awkward, but cute. Then the struggle, the competition, the comedy, not to mention, the fascinating secondary characters and the deep, very deep love for the sport, get this anime in the top list of best sports anime, and really in the list of best animes ever) Initial D (haven’t finished yet, but so far so good- car racing), and obviously Hajime no Hippo (everybody always told me to see this one, but I always delayed it, and even thou I don’t like boxe I actually like this anime quite a lot), also Ginban Kaleidoscope (is about skating but at the same time it’s such a beautiful love story).

6. Hikaru No Go (That serie was great! Love the rivalry! Love Go! It’s so emotional! And it has the second plance on the best anime eyes ever, for Hikaru, Sai and Akira!)
Site to play Go:
www.gokgs.com.
Now, SAKI (It’s the same thing as Hikaru no go but with girls instead! And its about mahjong! Which I love!) And Shion no Oh (I REALLY enjoyed this series!!! Such a deep main character and an extremely dramatic story, reminds me of those political stories. Still Hikaru no Go is better because it has many more cute boys, and nothing, NOTHING surpasses cute boys! Either way, I’m getting addicted in Games series!! Excellent and dramatic till the end!!!)

7. Yami No Matsuei (I LOVE IT AND IT WILL MAKE OBSESSED IN YAOI! A MUST WATCH! Pity it’s so small.) Gravitation (must I say it? Its yaoi! And there ain’t anything better than yaoi!) Antique Bakery (oh, well... it's yaoi...AND IT's BEAUTIFUL, can’t get enough of yaio, adore the characters, love the cakes!)
Kirepapa ova 2ep and Okane Ga Nai! Ova 4ep (I LOVE YAIO, yes I do! I love yaoi what about you? I love yaoi not shonen-ai ‘cause that’s just girls chitchat about feelings and blablabla and no action! I mean I got nothing against shonen-ai, it’s very pretty and all but nothing replaces the good old yaoi! and I don’t care if that makes me weird! I don’t force people who don’t like yaoi to watch it! So no one can make me stop liking it and watching it! And this two are lovely!)

8. Yu Yu Hakusho: Ghost Files (incredible!!! It reminds me of Dragonball, especially because it’s such a long anime, but in general, it’s an excellent history, quite the “go on” fun anime! Great quotes! The best characters ever! Love Kurama and his other self Youko, he just goes around constantly doing all kinds of stuff that would look totally gay if it was any other character doing it, but with him it really seems so sexy ! Hiei is just plain cute, Koenma and Botan are fun, Yusuke is a sexy bad boy when he wants, and all others are just adorable!)

9. The Law of Ueki (He’s the anti-hero, and I LOVE IT! Good story line. Really amusing moments in every episode.)

10. Full Metal Alchemist (BEST. ANIME. EVER! But it has way too much drama! Either way it’s amazing! The idea, the story, the drawings and most of all the extraordinary characters! Honestly beautiful, just beautiful!)

11. Detective Academy Q (This was the first online anime for me! I searched and watched it on veoh! It’s the best detective story ever! Personally I’m not a fan of Conan, so this anime does the TOP of detective stories in anime, for me!)

12. Akagi and Kaiji (I put this two different series together, ‘cause I watched them at about the same time and because their style of drawning it’s praticaly the same. Also they are both basically about gambling, which I love! Akagi its better, because the main character is so cool, but kaiji has more games, so they tie in awsomeness!)

13. Kyou Kara maou (It’s great, and I have no idea why! It’s just a watch and see the cuteness yourself, kind of serie. And in order to understand, you have to acknowledge the deeply intricate Japanese culture, or else you won’t get it. It has a hot tempered bishonen and lots of mild yaoi references. The main character the Maou, it’s the sweetest king ever!)

14. Hellsing (just because), Vampire Knight (One word: vampires. You can't go wrong... and I love the art! Vampires rule and sexy-badass-possibly-evil-vampires are even better! “Oh mighty Creature of the Night Kaname Senpai… suck my blood! Onegai!”) Black Blood Brothers and Trinity Blood (Both have such awesome stories, it puts together all tales of vampires but at the same time it has some logic. Great characters! Love all the biting scenes! Love the end in BBB! They should make a second season, this one is too short! TB is soo complex! But I love it! Also love the costumes in TB!) Also Karin, Chibi Vampire (Vampires again. Damn, they sure pop up everywhere in anime/manga, eh? Karin's just cute, and an actually believable heroine. VERY comic storyline.)

15. Saint Seiya or Knights of the Zodiac (Now, I used to watch this serie with my older brother in the mornings before school and it was one of the only things we enjoyed doing together, so I’m partial to this anime… but the drawing is pretty good, and the story is solid and interesting, very mythological and there are a lot of tournaments and fights, like in dragon ball, but in the end the characters are very beautiful even if with a little too much angst. It’s a pretty good anime!)

16. Higurashi No Naku goooooood! I love psychological, supernatural thrillers.
In this section also:
Umineko no Naku Koro ni by the same author, also Monster.

17. Puchi Puri Yuushi (magical girls and a princess story, but at the same time such a beautiful love story, and very funny and original story idea) Shugo Shara (magical people yes! But it gets second spot ’cause of it’s amazing main character!) Fairy Musketeers (a Fairy Tale world, magic, cute and interestingly problematic characters, the great colours all around, and the beautiful story line, make this a serie worth watching!) Card Captor Sakura, Doremi and Fancy Lala (GO GO MAGICAL GIRLS!!!) And Tokyo Mew Mew Power (Cutesy. VERY cutesy. Sometimes not in a good way... Only thing that kept me watching was the occasional funny line. And it's so colourful! Green, yellow, Pink and blue and shiny! Yes, I know shiny it's not a colour...lol)

18. D N Angel (Too small. But, Dark is awesome. What more must I say? It's a... interesting story; to say the least... I love thieves and with angel wings it’s even better!)

19. Yu gi oh (no offense to all the Yu-Gi-Oh fanatics out there, but... this looks like just another Saturday morning cartoon! in terms of art, of course! I've seen the entire serie, the several seasons, and it’s a good story, but it’s just sad to see how some people actually think this is a really good japanese anime… oh well, I suppose it is kindda entertaining. Besides when I watched it I was very, very young, and I got the card game, so it’s in a good position on my Anime Top.lol. What I think is the best about this anime is The Abriged Series by LittleKureboh!!! I love to mock this anime because I remember when I was completely addicted to it! LOL. I also like yu gi oh GX! I know everybody hates it, but I think it’s really funny and it has some awesome quotes! Yes, it has no plot whatsoever, but once again I didn’t saw it because of the story, I saw it because it was funny and I was bored!!! I never thought it was going to have a plot anyway, come on let’s be honest the original yu gi oh didn’t have a plot either, it had something that resembled a story, but in fact was just some crazy ideas and historic references glued together with a piece of gun!) A/N: Everytime I see this series I remenber the other serie I was whatching everySaturday morning, right after this one: Beyblade. Ah, good old days!

20. Princess Princess (sweet, sweet… come on! The entire serie is boys dressed as girls! What’s not to love! Just adorable.) And Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru I think the name of the serie just sums everything up... 'HELP! Maidens are falling for me!' It's about a simple guy, whose grandfather dies and says in his testament, that the boy has to go to the same private school his mother (who also died some time ago) went to. Problem? It’s an only girl’s school! So he has to masquerade as a girl. And he's pretty good at it, but girls start falling for his 'female' self! lool. It’s just so fun and cute, beautiful characters!

21. Princess Tutu (This one gains two awards! One for the extraordinary musical and dance scenes and one, for best pairing: Fakir/Ahiru -How can you not a love such an angsty, assertive boy (A knight and a writer. That's LOVE!), and who wouldn’t like, anger management paired with a clumsy and naive DUCK, even if she becomes a girl, she's still truly a duck. They rock my world.)

22. Gankutsuou: Count of Monte Cristo (Its cool! But it’s a completely different story from the books! Pity! Passed in a future scenario! With great characters and amazingly drawings in the cartoons, they could really have done much more… Really creepy ending!)

23. Trigun (Okay, let's get this straight. Vash is God. Really. Just watch the series, dammit! He's the ideal hero and we love him for it!) and Cowboy Bepbop (don't know why one anime just remainds me of the other).

24. Shaman King (Thought I would hate this since I’m not a big fan of English dub series. Instead, I LOVED IT! Really original and funny!)

25. Angel Sanctuary (It’s pretty good. But very small, and it doesn’t end. Also, it’s very sad. But it has great characters and the drawings are pretty neat. Besides I LOVE the manga!)

26. Tactics ( In a way, it was a big disappointment… it had such a great idea for a story but they start to go mysterious and it gets confusing, then by the end It’s just sad, but it’s still worth it , ‘cause of the beautiful characters and sweet yaio scenes.)

27. Full Moon O Sagashite (I love the musical scenes... i love japonese music!!!lol... also the story is very good, deep and emotional, yet simple and really sweet!) and on the subject of music: Mermaid Melody: Pichi Pichi Pitch (Beautiful voices!!! This is about a girl who is a mermaid and her trying to tell the guy she is in love with that she is one. If she goes out and says she is one, then she will turn into bubbles. It is also about her and her friends fighting other evil creatures with music! There are 52 episodes.)

28.
xxxHOLiC (charismatic to say the least…)

29. Inuyasha (Hey, everyone else is watching it, and I can see why! both English and Japanese!)

30. Bleach (It's just Bleach. What's not to love, except for maybe the English dub? Basically, every character on that serie is awesome) .

31. Strawberry Panic (Girls, girls, girls! And the cutest outfits!)And more girls! High School Girls (Damn! This is so hentai, but without the sex! But it’s cute and fun in a perverted sort of way. Either way it’s worth watching ‘cause it’s so damn funny, it can make pervert, look funny and that’s a talent!)
32. Author's Note: this List is in constant growt, for obvious reasons...
ANIME 4 EVER
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