English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

KitFox

13:00

Just shut your beak and take the compliment!

RegDwight АΑA

Anyway. Just ask Rob. He corrects me on a weekly basis. And I'm not exaggerating. Just ask.

tchrist

I’m a programmer, not a seamstress, Jim.

KitFox

No, you, kind sir, are my nemesis.

RegDwight АΑA

Though, admittedly, he often corrects something of mine that was totally intentional. Which is why I get pissy at him more often than at anybody else.

KitFox

1 min ago, by KitFox

Just shut your beak and take the compliment!

stomps

tchrist

13:01

You’re saying his irony meter is faulty then.

RegDwight АΑA

@KitFox I was going to do way better than that. I was going to completely ignore it. And I succeeded, in point of fact. But then you had to answer to tchrist, thus bringing his line to my attention in the first place.

tchrist

Pasan estas cosas aun en las mejores familias.

KitFox

@RegDwightАΑA My heart bleeds for your sadness.

Meanwhile, I have bigger fish to fry.

RegDwight АΑA

@tchrist not exactly irony, no. Sometimes use I German word order, or a wrong preposition, or article. I know he speaks German so I let it shine through. Usually he appreciates that, but sometimes he thinks I made a genuine mistake.

KitFox

I have to figure out what to do about this guy who is being a programmer and way funnier than me and charming all of you and threatening my position here in chat.

RegDwight АΑA

13:04

@tchrist в семье не без урода.

KitFox

See?

tchrist

Have you considered programming?

KitFox

headdesk

RegDwight АΑA

Who now_

Sorry, Russian question mark.

Who now?

KitFox

giggles

tchrist

13:05

La zorrita nuestra.

RegDwight АΑA

Mi espanol no mucho esta.

KitFox

I am a programmer.

tchrist

Ja sure.

KitFox

That's what makes you a threat, see?

Programmers aren't supposed to be witty and charming.

tchrist

has never threatened anyone who’s still around to tell the tale.

Cerberus

13:06

Hello.

KitFox

Now I'm not you-neek.

RegDwight АΑA

Well well, look who's up.

Cerberus

Is this the fabled women-group thing?

I've been up for hours, trying to cash my remaining cell-phone balance.

tchrist

@Cerberus That would be a-Muse-sing.

Cerberus

Would it?

tchrist

13:08

Like in, cash out? Why?

Cerberus

I have € 200 on my "balance".

RegDwight АΑA

@tchrist okay, now that I had time to actually read your question: no. I never lived in an English-speaking country. They won't so much as let me enter UK, what's with Schengen and all. I learned all my Englishes from teh internet. Reddit, Wikipedia.

Cerberus

It will be a puff of smoke once I switch carriers.

So I want as much of it paid back to me in cash as possible.

tchrist

@Cerberus Oh unused stolen money.

Cerberus

Yes, sort of.

So I opened a micro-payment account and created a page where I can pay myself per minute by calling a 0909 number.

I have done this before.

But it was a long time ago.

And I need to be sure the micro-payment site will actually pay me.

tchrist

13:10

They don't whine "fraudster" at you?

Cerberus

Who?

tchrist

The people who stole your money.

Cerberus

My carrier doesn't know what the micro-payment is for.

I am paying a website for something.

I get about 70 % back, if all goes well.

targetpay.com

If you ever want people to pay for using your website or something, use one of these, it is very easy to set up.

tchrist

@RegDwightАΑA I’ve a friend who is highly English-proficient but non-native, who went off and read all of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, the Silmarillion, and even The Lays of Beleriand, of course untranslated. His written English took on the cutest oldschool accent for weeks.

Cerberus

Oh, I love that.

I have read almost the entire oeuvre of Jack Vance, and I often intentionally use one of his archaisms or formalisms, if you will.

tchrist

13:16

Jack Vance very heavily influenced Gary Gygax.

Far, far more than Tolkien ever did.

Cerberus

Who's that?

tchrist

Cugel's picaresque adventures, for example.

Cerberus

And do you like Vance?

tchrist

Gary Gygax invented Dungeons & Dragons. (well, kinda)

Yes, of course I like Vance.

Cerberus

Oh, I see.

@tchrist You are the first person in this room after me!

tchrist

13:18

@Cerberus What of it?

Or perhaps, what do you mean?

Cerberus

If only his plots were a bit more polished and his charters deeper, he would be the Perfect Author.

RegDwight АΑA

0

Q: What does it mean by contingent leave?

http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/photo/first-contingent-leaves-karori What does it mean by 'contingent leave'?

tchrist

I saw that.

RegDwight АΑA

Cast, cast, cast your vote, life is but a dream.

tchrist

Wept.

Cerberus

13:19

@tchrist I mean this is the first time anybody in this room knows anything about Vance when I bring him up.

Sonic The Hedgehog

His username is "newbie". Literally.

Lol.

tchrist

@Cerberus You forgot what I told you two days ago.

Cerberus

Apparently...

What was it?

tchrist

Letters, not celluloid.

Cerberus

Eh...

You might have been a little more specific.

If you meant Vance there.

simchona

13:21

@Cerberus Seven.

RegDwight АΑA

Bagger Vance?

tchrist

He's an SF Grand Master. How could one not know him?

Cerberus

See? This is the usual reaction I get ^^ and ^^^.

tchrist

Teabagger vans.

JSBձոգչ

hi people

Cerberus

13:22

Oh, perhaps JSB knew Vance?

tchrist

Or bots.

Cerberus

I forgot.

JSBձոգչ

i'm sad today because i completed punted match3 in my magic tournament last night

@Cerberus which vance?

Cerberus

Jack!

RegDwight АΑA

@JSBձոգչ in English, please.

MetaEd

13:22

The ME voting pattern is interesting.

Cerberus

Aka. John Holbrook Vance, or something.

tchrist

He has multiple Hugos, and many other awards. I cannot imagine not knowing those people.

JSBձոգչ

@Cerberus yes, i know who that is, but i don't think i've ever read anything of his

Cerberus

@tchrist You should sharpen your imagination, then!

@JSBձոգչ Ah OK.

JSBձոգչ

@RegDwightАΑA in round 3 of a four-round tournament, after doing very well in rounds 1 and 2, i made a series of stupid mistakes that cost me a game that i should have won

tchrist

13:23

You mean blunt it.

Cerberus

No, no.

RegDwight АΑA

@JSBձոգչ ah. Sucks.

What was the prize?

MetaEd

The voting results basically divide candidates into two clusters.

RegDwight АΑA

@KitFox NOOOOOO, not when MetaEd is around!

KitFox

What? Oh, sorry.

MetaEd

13:24

Oh, y'all are so thoughty.

RegDwight АΑA

Besides, it's a slow jinx.

KitFox

When did MetaEd get here?

JSBձոգչ

why are we removing awesome magic leia?

tchrist

That's funny. I actually used to work for TSR, and was a NetRep for Wizards of the Coast.

MetaEd

@JSBձոգչ Apparently to save me the trouble of doing it myself.

KitFox

13:25

@JSBձոգչ I can email it to you.

RegDwight АΑA

@KitFox nobody expects Meta Edquisition.

KitFox

@tchrist GAH! STOP IT!

MetaEd

Cute picture.

JSBձոգչ

@Kit no need, i can find it myself if required

tchrist

Gary Gygax was my neighbor.

JSBձոգչ

13:25

@tchrist awesome

RegDwight АΑA

@JSBձոգչ because MetaEd has a nice coworker lady who does all his jobs for him.

JSBձոգչ

@RegDwightАΑA and she finds MtG offensive?

tchrist

@KitFox That's going to be hard for you to catch up on. :)

RegDwight АΑA

@JSBձոգչ we don't know. But he is not keen on finding out.

KitFox

@tchrist makes notes

tweaks plan for world domination

MetaEd

13:26

Anyway there is a "good candidate" cluster; everybody in it got around 18 downvotes, basically flat across the board, and all the variation in the cluster is in the number of upvotes.

Robusto

Hey, too fast for a Friday morning. I'm trying to ease into the workday. Can we slow it down a bit?

KitFox

Hey @Rob.

RegDwight АΑA

@Robusto Slow, slow, slow a bit, gently down the chat.

KitFox

moves 'crushing nemesis' to the #3 slot

MetaEd

And there is a "bad candidate" cluster; everybody in it got around 19 upvotes, basically flat across the board, and all the variation in the cluster is in the number of downvotes.

KitFox

13:27

Very interesting.

So who has 18 socks?

Mitch

very

KitFox

giggles

JSBձոգչ

suggesting that all of the bad candidates votes for each other?

Mitch

a baseball team?

JSBձոգչ

or, yes, socks, lots and lots of socks

KitFox

13:28

high fives @Mitch

RegDwight АΑA

@JSBձոգչ well I downvoted everyone. VOTE FREEDOM, VOTE ME!

tchrist

Voting strategies must needs be quite different in the final round, given that it will only be upvotes.

Robusto

Have you noticed that the plus votes for bad candidates roughly correlates to the minus votes for good candidates?

tchrist

@Robusto 18.5 nutters.

RegDwight АΑA

@tchrist three upvotes per ~~person~~ sock, in fact. Now that's some geeky maths involved.

tchrist

13:30

@RegDwightАΑA I thought it was up to three upvotes.

Robusto

@tchrist Can you convert that to Nutellas?

tchrist

I didn’t know you had to vote three times.

RegDwight АΑA

@tchrist well yes, and then there's that.

tchrist

Well, that's the thing, then.

KitFox

1

Q: Help to understand the use of the English word 'contingent'?

On this page, First Contingent leaves Karori, what does it mean by 'contingent leave'? And in this article, Contingent Workers Have Skill Sets That Today's Companies Should Find Attractive, what does 'contingent expansion' mean?

meaning vocabulary

Is there something here that I am missing?

RegDwight АΑA

13:30

@tchrist you don't even have to vote at all. Which is precisely what will happen, if history is any lesson.

tchrist

You aren't supposed to look at my voting history. :)

MetaEd

I wonder if there were about 18 people who just popped in to vote FOR every candidate, and about 18 people who just popped in to vote AGAINST every candidate, and then everyone else actually voted their preferences.

tchrist

@KitFox You're missing how dumb it is.

KitFox

No, I don't miss that.

Robusto

ESL ... ESL ... ESL

tchrist

13:32

If you can vote times, but only vote once, then it is as though you voted for one person three times.

Robusto

Maybe you can vote three New York Times

KitFox

Can we vote for the same person three times?

Robusto

Which is kind of like a New York minute.

tchrist

@KitFox In effect.

RegDwight АΑA

@KitFox you can click the button thrice, yes.

KitFox

13:33

And don't even get me started on contingent workers.

MetaEd

I think you're supposed to vote three multiplications. Times is so elementary school.

RegDwight АΑA

Gigili will vote ^3 times.

MetaEd

Is that null to the third power?

Robusto

@MetaEd In that case, you don't have to register a vote at all, because in higher math the multiplication operator is omitted.

user19161

@RegDwightАΑA Really? And this is a serious question.

tchrist

13:34

It's the Picasso vote.

RegDwight АΑA

@MetaEd The base is to be revealed only after the election.

MetaEd

Well it's obviously base three at least.

Base four.

tchrist

Home plate.

MetaEd

Third base!

Robusto

You have the pH scale backwards.

RegDwight АΑA

13:34

@JasperLoy not really, no, as you will have three different buttons. First choice, second choice, [your guess here] choice.

user19161

@Robusto They are using the pOH scale.

MetaEd

My guess is "10".

KitFox

Seven!

Not wait, eight!

RegDwight АΑA

15 hours ago, by RegDwight АΑA

Why don't they just run clockwise? Then the third base would come first.

MetaEd

Not waiting.

user19161

13:35

@RegDwightАΑA My guess is "third", so I will take the cookie myself.

MetaEd

@RegDwightАΑA Because it's a caucus race.

tchrist

@KitFox Ere the other side he see.

KitFox

Oh man that's gross.

MetaEd

@KitFox What.

Robusto

The base is based on unvisual Basic.

user19161

13:36

It's really hard to decide who to vote for, but I have finalized my decision.

RegDwight АΑA

@MetaEd so only Georgia and Dagestan may run?

KitFox

@MetaEd Jasper eating the cookie.

Robusto

Still too fast for me.

JSBձոգչ

okay, once and for all people. does protected internal mean protected & internal or protected | internal?

user19161

Yo @sonic! How's the studying coming along?

MetaEd

13:36

@JSBձոգչ Yes.

tchrist

@JSBձոգչ ¿Qué coño dices?

MetaEd

@JSBձոգչ What's your security clearance, Citizen?

Robusto

@tchrist No rolling dices in chat.

RegDwight АΑA

En Barcelona hay una fábrica de coches.

JSBձոգչ

@tchrist taci din gura boule

@RegDwightАΑA Lies!

tchrist

13:38

@RegDwightАΑA Ya dijiste eso, macho.

MetaEd

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

user19161

0

Q: Can't understand the meaning of contingent here

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2012/Aug-03/183294-unifil-contingent-robbed-of-gps-in-south-lebanon.ashx#axzz22Y58YMMk UNIFIL contingent contingent was stolen What do they mean?

meaning vocabulary

simchona

@JasperLoy Was just about to post that

user19161

This guy keeps posting contingent questions.

JSBձոգչ

@MetaEd that one's easy. magic people in glowing suits.

RegDwight АΑA

13:38

@JasperLoy and he's at 6 reps already.

tchrist

@MetaEd [insert sed]

user19161

@simchona Probably just a new user unfamiliar with the workings of the site.

MetaEd

JSB knows his Ultraviolets.

JSBձոգչ

fortunately, there's a site that has answers for questions such as mine

8

Q: What is the difference between 'protected' and 'protected internal'?

Can someone please elaborate me the difference between 'protected' and 'protected internal' modifiers in C#? It looks they behave in same manner.

c# .net access-modifiers

Robusto

Ask him if he understands the meaning of "General Reference" ...

user19161

13:40

@Robusto It's a general in the contingent called Reference.

RegDwight АΑA

@JSBձոգչ sounds Greek to me.

Five out of ten questions closed again.

Top ten, that is.

Mitch

@tchrist oops not intermedial leniition (that's for b,d,g->v, eth, gamma (fricative versions of each) in the middle of words (bibir sounds like vivir, helado -> helatho, magi sounds like French mari)

Sonic The Hedgehog

@Jasper Hey. Coming along fine. Resting in the weekend.

Finally found a bot that saves my work from playing 30 days to 3 days.

tchrist

@Mitch Yes, the voiced stops become fricatives tending towards approximants intermedially. The story of the sibilants is otherwise.

Sonic The Hedgehog

I'm getting that Ranger class in no time.

user19161

13:42

@SonicTheHedgehog I don't understand this sentence.

Sonic The Hedgehog

@Jasper Gaming my friend. Game.

KitFox

@JasperLoy He's cheating.

;-)

tchrist

That's why I couldn't understand what you were talking about.

Sonic The Hedgehog

>:D

I got banned twice

but finally found one that worked.

KitFox

Kids these days.

Sonic The Hedgehog

13:43

shrugs

KitFox

No patience.

Sonic The Hedgehog

Yep.

tchrist

That isn't Castilian. That happens in all Spanish. The z/s distinction does not.

Sonic The Hedgehog

Also it's common gene in Koreans.

user19161

@SonicTheHedgehog Oh, like I like to use proxy to access certain banned websites. :-)

user19161

13:44

@SonicTheHedgehog it's

Sonic The Hedgehog

I have to study for SAT even if I am not even attending High School yet.

It helps with stress.

tchrist

@Mitch Minimal pairs are found in cada / casa / caza, which in some speakers have no intermedial sound that exactly maps into an English phonemic set.

KitFox

@SonicTheHedgehog It's good to practice stressing out.

Sonic The Hedgehog

Or is it normal to study for SAT even if I am not yet attending high school?

How did you guys cope with high school?

I'm so lucky to have chance to chat with adults.

user19161

@SonicTheHedgehog Is the material already covered in the school syllabus?

simchona

13:46

@SonicTheHedgehog I took my first SAT in 7th grade

Sonic The Hedgehog

Do they really dip your head in toilet? :P

tchrist

@SonicTheHedgehog Played D&D.

Sonic The Hedgehog

@Sim really? For what?

simchona

There's no real definition of "normal" when it comes to SATs

Mitch

@tchrist yeah, I'm reading up on all the seseo, ceceo, and distincion stuff. Not actually knowing anything about spanish I mixed up the linition thing with the seseo stuff.

RegDwight АΑA

13:47

This chat is tenebrous.

simchona

@SonicTheHedgehog Johns Hopkins Talent Search

Sonic The Hedgehog

This chat is in no way dark, shadowy or obscure.

KitFox

@SonicTheHedgehog High school sucked. But it doesn't last, then there's college which is fun and then being an adult which is AWESOME.

RegDwight АΑA

@SonicTheHedgehog use sunglasses.

You not wearing sunglasses?

simchona

@RegDwightАΑA Take adjective 1. Replace with adjective 2. Ask on ELU.

Sonic The Hedgehog

13:48

@sim Wait, I knew that you were smart... but you were a genius? :P

tchrist

@Mitch You should also know that the s's point of articulation in the north (Castilian, Catalan, Basque, etc) is not where it sits in English. It’s apical not laminar.

Cerberus

> By your own description you are about to marry a paragon.

simchona

@SonicTheHedgehog Haha, I scored well enough for my age group to get catalogs from them every few months about taking college courses

Sonic The Hedgehog

@Reg Minor. I don't want to ruin my vision yet. Or that's what my parents think.

Cerberus

Would you use paragon in this way?

KitFox

13:48

A paragon of what?

Cerberus

Exactly!

Mitch

@tchrist I have a feeling that's true of most non-English.

Cerberus

She just means a near-perfect person.

Sonic The Hedgehog

Perfect Person, he means.

Paragon.

RegDwight АΑA

@SonicTheHedgehog feel free to point out to your parents... puts on sunglasses... that sunglasses are cool.

tchrist

13:49

@RegDwightАΑA Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine.

Sonic The Hedgehog

@Reg They will think that I am insolent.

:P

Cerberus

I would always say a paragon of virtue or such.

KitFox

Sort of like saying "I shall marry the epitome."

Cerberus

Yes!

tchrist

@Mitch Not in Germanic languages, nor French, nor American Spanish.

Cerberus

13:50

I'm glad we are of one mind, then.

Sonic The Hedgehog

I can't decide whether to marry or not.

RegDwight АΑA

@tchrist Kyrie gloria, credo! Sanctus Benedictus agnus Dei.

Sonic The Hedgehog

Wait, did I just say that?

KitFox

You're too young to do so.

Cerberus

@SonicTheHedgehog Has she proposed to you?

Sonic The Hedgehog

13:50

Never too young to think about future...

tchrist

has just an utterly wicked idea.

KitFox

@SonicTheHedgehog There is so much time.

Sonic The Hedgehog

@Cerberus laughs Good one.

Cerberus

@KitFox Aren't people allowed to tie the knot at 16 or so in some places?

tchrist

Some of us were tying the knot at 13 and 14.

KitFox

13:51

@Matt!

Cerberus

Who are you?

Sonic The Hedgehog

Well, This is what my dad used to say about aging.

Matt Эллен

ohai :D

Cerberus

Hi.

Sonic The Hedgehog

If you are 5 years old, you are going at 5mph.

RegDwight АΑA

13:51

Wo?

Cerberus

Do.

Sonic The Hedgehog

When you are 18 years old, you are going at 18mph

tchrist

Wer?

Matt Эллен

In a bar

RegDwight АΑA

Wow, you speak Moselfranconian?

Sonic The Hedgehog

13:52

So, as you age, it goes faster each time.

Cerberus

Muss i' denn, muss i' denn...

Sonic The Hedgehog

If you are in your 80's, you are going at 80 mph.

tchrist

Ja.

KitFox

@SonicTheHedgehog It's true, time passes faster as you get older. You will also change a great deal. You won't be the same person ten years from now.

Cerberus

I'm trying to faithfully reproduce our earlier conversations, but you know that is not my forte...

Sonic The Hedgehog

13:52

@Kit I hope not.

RegDwight АΑA

@tchrist instant disqualification. That would be joh.

KitFox

@SonicTheHedgehog So there is no sense in making decisions about things you can't even do yet anyway.

Sonic The Hedgehog

@Kit I'm curious, though.

How I'll be like 10 years from now.

tchrist

Dude!

Mitch

@tchrist those don't all have apical or dental (I thought they're the same) t and d and s?

KitFox

13:54

@SonicTheHedgehog It's good to wonder, but you are growing and changing and experiencing life. Just do that, and don't worry about the future so much. You'll turn out just fine.

Sonic The Hedgehog

On that note, there is 5 other friends with me farming xp with me.

tchrist

@Mitch No, an apical s is not the same as a dental.

RegDwight АΑA

♪ Who'll walk me down to church when I'm sixty years of age,
When the ragged dog they gave me has been ten years in the grave?
And señorita play guitar, play it just for you,
My rosary has broken and my beads have all slipped through.

Sonic The Hedgehog

@Kit I hope, Kit. I hope...

user19161

@SonicTheHedgehog Nobody knows.

tchrist

13:55

English speakers typically perceive an apical s as something like an sh.

Robusto

@tchrist Apical is the adjectival form of apex. Or ape, I misremember which.

tchrist

@Reg, I see what you mean.

KitFox

@RegDwightАΑA Have I mentioned how much I love your work?

user19161

@tchrist Is ja the new ya?

Sonic The Hedgehog

Having friends help with farming, BTW.

Robusto

13:55

@KitFox You're supposed to love your work.

RegDwight АΑA

@Robusto and typical is the adjectival form of Tipp-Ex.

Sonic The Hedgehog

I'm gaining xp like mile a minute. Or Half kilometers a minute.

@Robusto that applies to 1% of us.

Cerberus

@RegDwightАΑA I feel like you're objectifying me.

KitFox

@Robusto Oh, it that what I've done wrong?

Robusto

@SonicTheHedgehog Can we get that in metric? There are furreigners here.

user19161

13:55

@SonicTheHedgehog Is that another game?

Robusto

@KitFox Durr.

user19161

@Robusto I never knew what a mile is.

Sonic The Hedgehog

@Robusto Probably only one hundredth of us love our work.

tchrist

@JasperLoy It’s a third of a league.

Robusto

@JasperLoy Suffice to say that it is bigger and better than a kilometer.

user19161

13:56

It is time for the world to use SI units!

tchrist

And a league is an hour.

Easy peasy.

RegDwight АΑA

♪ And the future you're giving me holds nothing for a gun
I've no wish to be living sixty years on.

Mitch

@SonicTheHedgehog SAT is usually for 11th/12th grade. isn't taking it in junior high...is that for plain fun or are you in an accelerated program (official or otherwise)?

tchrist

You walk a league per hour, by definition. So in 20 minutes, you’ve gone a mile.

user19161

@Robusto But I know that your foot is exactly one foot long.

Sonic The Hedgehog

13:57

@Mitch I'm Asian. My parents think I should prepare or something...

RegDwight АΑA

@Robusto "bigger and better" is tautological.

Sonic The Hedgehog

Perks of being Asian: Good at Games.

Cerberus

This isn't helping...

Robusto

@JasperLoy You know that I said it is one foot long. You have never submitted my results to independent testing.

Sonic The Hedgehog

Downside: Overbearing Parents.

user19161

13:58

@SonicTheHedgehog Acceleration is not a good idea unless you are a certified genius. It is better to learn things thoroughly even if it takes more time...

Sonic The Hedgehog

@Jasper Try telling it to my parents.

RegDwight АΑA

@Robusto he did ask on Skeptics.

Robusto

@RegDwightАΑA So when you have a bigger headache it is always a better headache?

RegDwight АΑA

@Robusto we're not talking about me. Obviously there's nothing grand about me.

Sonic The Hedgehog

Anyway, why are we arguing over units?

Mitch

13:59

@KitFox really? was it that bad? people at college are exactly the same people that were just in HS with you, you just don't know what's wrong with them..and it keeps going.

Robusto

@RegDwightАΑA Wait, I thought you were Naughtius Maximus.

user19161

@SonicTheHedgehog Tell them someone told you that. I think it sounds convincing enough. Nowadays, there are all kinds of accelerated programs but these usually cut down a lot of important stuff you should know in subtle ways.

RegDwight АΑA

@Robusto But to answer your question, a bigger headache means you have a bigger head. Which is better than not a bigger head.

KitFox

@Mitch [big long story] yes.

Cerberus

@RegDwightАΑA @tchrist Here you can observe the Greek self/same thing.

Sonic The Hedgehog

13:59

@Jasper I'll try.

Mitch

@KitFox life stories are long. understood.

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