cercelata: July 2007

Google all set to rock the mobile market

Well if you were wondering what would be the next big thing from Google, well heres' your answer, Google is all set to enter the mobile market. It has approached Sprint to be a partner and has reportedly offered Sprint an undisclosed amount of money to work alongside it on the future US broadband wireless network Wi-Max. The deal makes

Google the exclusive provider for Web search on the portal and the preferred provider of Internet chat and e-mail. Google also will be providing mobile ads, along with its search results, and sharing the revenue with Sprint.

Sprint is developing a nationwide advanced wireless broadband network that is being designed to mobilize the Internet, bring wireless innovation to devices and deliver new mobile multimedia applications to customers. The pact with Google is a milestone in Sprint's mobile Internet strategy, and it builds upon current WiMAX ecosystem infrastructure and device agreements to establish an Internet destination for user-generated content and multimedia offerings.

Sprint announced plans to invest up to $3 billion in the new WiMax network. WiMax has a range of up to 10 miles and can transfer data at speeds similar to cable and DSL. Sprint plans to test Wi-Max services in areas across the US by the end of the year, including in Chicago, Washington DC and Baltimore. By the end of 2008, the service, which will be run in conjunction with Clearwire, will cover 100 million users. Although the plans of both the companies are ambitious, only time would tell the degree of success.

Methods of sharing huge size files online

Lately i came across a situation where i had to share a big video file (75MB after ziping) to one of my friend abroad. I was confident that i could either use Gmail or Yahoo service to send the zip file accross, but to my surprise both this services failed it had 10MB email attachement limitation.. Even some other prominent file hosting services had restriction of 10MB to 20MB restriction. I then googled for some possible solution on the internet, and found two options. 1. To split the file, make it smaller in size and then attach and send. 2. Use premimun file hosting services to transfer the huge files.

I was able to find many video splitter/ file splitter software, but to add to my surprize all of them had restrictions... in terms of time to split or to save or to buy the software to save the file, some ran its logo on the video. I was very dissapointed. But I came across this TOTALLY free software which made my day. This is a simple, easy to use freeware utility that helps the user split huge files into chunks of small sizes that can be recombined at ease to retrieve the original file. Moreover you needn't have the File Splitter for the re-combination.

The software is nourished with a variety of split options and provides an attractive and friendly GUI that makes the user feel at home. Go for this simple yet powerful utility - after all it's only a 9Kb download. Heres the linka to download the software.
Mirror Link 1 , Mirror Link 2

Large file hosting services sites like Rapidshare, Megaupload or Yousendit lets you upload files on the web upto a few hundred MBs. Gigasize is a new entrant that lets you send files upto 1 GB in size. You can again apply the splitter rule here so even if the file size exceeds the 1 GB limit, split it into smaller chunks and then upload them.

Friends if you happen to know some easy way to share or send large files online, please share them by adding comments below

Africa as a mobile banking benchmark

Africa probably boast the most advanced, oldest and most successful examples of mobile banking solutions on the planet today. It is not difficult to understand why, as this is also one of the fastest growing markets for mobile telephony in the world.

The Celpay deployment in Zambia was one of the first mobile payment solution deployed and is still operational today. This implementation currently manages about 2% of Zambia's GNP on mobile payments. I am not aware of any other mobile payment solution that can make the same claim. One of the other Celpay deployments (in the DRC - a country as large as most of Europe and with a population of more than 120 million people) runs roughly five million mobile payment transactions a month.

Other solutions (like the m-Pesa deployment) is often quoted by Vodafone as THE Vodafone mobile payment reference. This solution runs on the Vodafone network in Kenya (Safaricom) and boasts advanced cash management capabilities. Wizzit (an innovative mobile banking deployment for the under-banked) is often quoted as an example of empowerment of under-banked and the creation of jobs.

In a country like Nigeria (one of the most oil-rich countries in the world) one finds many advanced mobile banking and payment solutions - supported by advanced central bank regulations. Deployments like eTranzact, Flash-me-Cash and mobile banking provided by the central switch (Interswitch) must definitely be rated as some of the most advanced deployments in the world, with a large take-up and growing.

Every bank in South Africa have deployed advanced mobile banking and payment solutions. This market is currently growing at the rate of more than thirty-five thousand subscribers per month. The mobile banking market have grown to one million subscribers in just over two years. Few countries can claim this achievement. The MTN banking deployment in South Africa (an innovative product supported by MTN - the largest operator in Africa and Standard Bank - the largest bank in Africa) features advanced and unique characteristics (like a banking starter pack and "pay-as-you-go" banking to name a few).

It is no doubt that Africa is one of the leaders in mobile banking with advanced solutions and successful references.

Mobile payments to really take off

The Juniper research company predict a massive growth in mobile payment volumes. This prediction is based on the assumption that 204 million users will generate transactions worth approximately $22bn by 2011. The analyst firm predicts that the market will be driven by increased uptake of person-to-person fund transfers, along with the commercialisation of mobile payments using near field communications (NFC) technology. The prediction is based on the awareness in large industry players to start embracing mobile phones as transactional devices.

What does this mean?

It is now imperative for serious players in the transactional payment and banking arena to consider their position regarding mobile payments. These companies should develop positioning strategies and consider investment in early pilot projects and mainstream business initiatives. It is important to partner with leading suppliers with relevant track records, so as to minimise risks in this complex solution space. Fundamo is the leading supplier of mobile banking solutions and is the ideal partner for large banks and mobile operators considering the deployment of mobile payments.

New initiatives in Mobile Banking

New initiatives in mobile banking is now being announced all of the time. Just a sample of the announcements made during the past week is given below.

Citibank launches mobile bill payment service in Malaysia - Citibank launched a new service in Malaysia that will enable its customers to pay bills using their mobile handsets. The SMS-based service enables customers to use their credit cards to pay bills. Customers can also receive reminders when bills need paying and personalise their payments by assigning key words or texts.

Masabi signs YourRail to mobile ticketing technology. YourRail has contracted London-based Masabi to build a mobile application which enabled train tickets to be securely bought and displayed on mobile phones.

Vodafone offers direct access to bank accounts via MoniLink. The service allows customers of MoniLink banks to check their balance, request a mini-statement and top-up their or their friends'/family's 'pay as you talk' mobile phones. The Monilink system has been set up by Monitise and VocaLink and has so far signed up HSBC, first direct, Alliance & Leicester, Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest and Ulster Bank in Northern Ireland.

Wells Fargo and Visa to conduct public mobile payments trial. Wells Fargo and Visa are to undertake a public trial of mobile payments technology with up to 500 customers in the fourth quarter of the year. The move to a public pilot follows positive feedback from an internal laboratory trial conducted by the bank in April.

Alliance & Leicester is to pay younger customers £10 for signing up to its mobile banking services. A&L is introducing the offer to customers who have signed up to its Premier 21 current account. But the bank says only the first 20,000 customers who register for the m-banking service and use it before the end of June will receive the £10.

Telsecure launches securePay m-payments system in UK. UK mobile payments start-up Telsecure is launching its securePay front-end payments system that is designed to protect customers from card-not-present (CNP) fraud. Telsecure said in 2003 that it was teaming with business and technology consultancy Generics Group to develop the mobile authentication system, which uses a cardholder's mobile hand set to verify and authenticate transactions made via the Internet, mail and telephone.

What is interesting about most of these announcements is that they almost all are from UK banks and mobile operators. Does this mean that the UK has now become the hot-bed for mobile banking/payments. Or is this only because the British like to talk about what they do more?

It would be interesting to know how many initiatives are being launched that is not announced. We at Fundamo, have deployed a number of mobile banking initiatives for clients that has not been announced. So this may point to much more activity in this space that is just not visible to all. I think it is safe to say that mobile banking is taking off.

iPhone's best friend is here, but will it take off ?

iPhone, Apple's revolutionary new mobile device obviously was the most awaitied gadget of this year, did it lived up to its expectations or not is all together a

different question, but with the launch of this gadget comes series of iPhone specific services. This new service claim to be your iPhones best friend, its called the iRovr. Its a unique social experience developed specifically for owners of Apple's iphone.

iRovr makes it easy to communicate with friends a family, even giving you the ability to blog, share photos and videos, and post bookmarks without even visiting this website. The idea is to make all this possible within the smaller dimensions of the iPhone screen. All new media appears in a stream of updates, and you can block out the media types you don’t want to see. You don’t even have to log in via the iPhone’s browser.

I am not sure whether an iPhone-specific social network would be a great hit, but nonetheless its a positive attempt and could inspire other social networks to release usable iPhone interfaces.

Here is the link to iRovr and below is a screen shot of the site.

Friends would like to know your views as well on this new service, post in you commensts below...

iPhone's best friend is here, but will it take off ?

iPhone, Apple's revolutionary new mobile device obviously was the most awaitied gadget of this year, did it lived up to its expectations or not is all together a

Friends would like to know your views as well on this new service, post in you commensts below...

YouTube to soon release its beta version

Our favorite video-sharing site 'YouTube' is trying out a new design for its video pages. There’s now a button that enables the new "Beta Version". Here are few differences I observed.

The main navigation and theme is largely the same, but links have been re-ordered,

usability had been improved, and there is a splash of Ajax in the beta. The first noticeable change is in the right sidebar, which has been cleaned up and segmented better. Note that on both versions, Google search now takes a prime position in the center of the page. You can also sign in to YouTube with your Google account, although this remains optional for now.

The new version has specific sections for 'Related Videos' and 'Promoted Videos' (a.k.a. popular ones). The 'Director' videos have been cut, perhaps reflecting that popular videos aren't necessarily professionally made by a director. At first glance it seems odd to cut the 'More from this user' section, but I think this has been integrated into 'Related Videos' (as with 'Playlists'). So YouTube has reduced the number of clickable options, by consolidating them into one section.

Friends would like to know your views as well on this new beta, post in you commensts below...

Key Issues and Challenges for Indian Inc.

Having enjoyed strong growth over the past few years, India's IT industry spurred primarily by the bustling services and software markets now faces the danger of slowing to a halt if the country does not resolve challenges brought about by an appreciating currency, upcoming taxes, severe manpower crunch, and visa restrictions.

1. Appreciating currency
The main reason for the rupee's appreciation since late 2006 has been a flood of foreign-exchange inflows, especially US dollars. The surge of capital and other inflows into India has taken a variety of forms, ranging from foreign direct investment (FDI) to remittances sent home by Indian expatriates. In each case, the flow seems unlikely to slacken. The rise of the rupee against the dollar has Indian outsourcing companies worried, as two-thirds of their business comes from the United States. A rising rupee has pushed down exporters' rupee revenue, even as their costs

locally go up. To counter this challenge NASSCOM had asked the Indian government to restore some of the export incentives that were earlier provided to Indian outsourcers.

2. Upcoming taxes deterrents
The budget introduced a fresh set of deterrents such as minimum alternative tax (MAT), service tax on lease rentals and "fringe benefit tax" on ESOPs (employee stock ownership plan), adding to the industry's existing list of woes. A large number of the operations of Indian outsourcing companies were set up under an export-promotion plan called the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), which entitled them to tax breaks. But the STPI plan ends next year. Companies seeking tax benefits now have to move their operations to special economic zones, something that's not feasible for outsourcing firms, which have operations in multiple locations close to where staff are available.

3. Severe manpower crunch
According to a Forrester Research report released earlier this month, over 300 North American and European companies have set up their own offshore centers in India over the last two years to lower costs in product development and backoffice operations. But, the reported noted, more than 60 percent of these companies were now struggling to cope "due to spiraling costs, skyrocketing attrition, and lack of integration and management support". Most Indian IT companies are on a recruitment overdrive. For instance, TCS plans to hire 32,000 employees this year, while Infosys intends to hire some 24,500 and Wipro around 14,000 people. Corporate India would undergo severe manpower shortage in the next five years due to gap in the demand and supply of skilled human capital, says a PHDCCI report. To reduce costs, many companies are also setting up centers in India's smaller cities. For instance, a leading BPO service provider FirstSource, opened five new facilities in cities such as Hubli, Vishakapatnam, Cochin and Pondicherry.

4. Visa restrictions
the biggest challenge India's IT industry currently faces is the H1-B visa restriction imposed by the United States. "While the big companies [in India] have a bank of employees with H1-B visas, smaller firms in both India and the United States are suffering. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates slammed the federal government's strict limits on temporary visas for technology workers, saying that if he had his way, the system would be scrapped entirely. Many in the industy are optimistic that the 65,000 cap on H1-B visas will be lifted soon.

Data Mover for Nokia E90 Communicator

This Symbian Software allows to transfers Contacts, sms and other data from the Sending-phone (Nokia 9500, 9300 and 9300i) to Receiving-phone on Nokia E90 Communicator via Bluetooth.

Data Mover for Nokia E90

Share videos online and earn money

If you have some good videos and would like share it to others then you can also earn money by hosting in on the internet. Check out Revver.com, a video-sharing platform which shares its revenue to members. They support free and unlimited sharing of media, their unique technology tracks and monetizes videos as they spread virally

across the web, so no matter where your creativity travels, you benefit. In order to share videos one has to become a member of Revver. Then the process of uploading and sharing is simple.

Anyone wanting to share videos will have to follow simple instructions mentioned on the site. After the videos are uploaded, Revver attaches matching ads with those videos and then posts them on the internet. Videos become part of a viral video network. Revenue that is made on these is split half and half between the maker and the revver. More the videos get shown on the internet, more the revenue. These videos can be used and shown by third parties as well.

Videos on the site can be tagged and categorized. Members can create their own video lists and add other member's videos to it. Actually you don't have to have your own videos at all. It's enough if you just want to promote other videos and make money with it. Video has a very bright future. Revver is the first site to share content based revenue. Its user interface is very good and it has the potential of generating more revenue in future. This will be beneficial not only for Revver but for video makers as well.

The exact amount of money you earn per click is variable. But they claim to be constantly working to improve the value of the network so as to negotiate better rates.

Friends, make sure you give it a try.. So keep uploading and sharing - it's good for everyone!

Website:Revver.com
By the way here my favorite Video from Revver

How to access your Yahoo mail via Outlook

Some very simple configuration to your Yahoo account and your outlook settings can make outlook synchronizes with Yahoo Mail. Here are the steps that needs to be followed

1. In your Outlook from the Tools menu, choose "Accounts."
2. Select the "Mail" tab.
3. Click the "Add" button.
4. From the Add menu, click "Mail."
5. In the text box labeled Display Name, type your name and click "Next."
6. In the Email Address box, type your Yahoo! Mail address (be sure to include "@yahoo.com") and click "Next."

7. Under "My incoming mail server is a..." select "POP3."
8. Type "pop.mail.yahoo.com" in the Incoming Mail (POP3, IMAP, or HTTP) Server box.
9. Type "smtp.mail.yahoo.com" in the Outgoing Mail (SMTP) Server box.
10. Click "Next."
11. In the Account Name box, type your Yahoo! Mail ID (your email address without the "@yahoo.com").
12. In the Password box, type your Yahoo! Mail password.
13. If you want Outlook Express to remember your password, check the "Remember password" box.
14. Do not check the boxes labeled "Log on using Secure.."
15. Click "Next."
16. Click "Finish."
17. Select 'pop.mail.yahoo.com' under 'Account,' and click 'Properties.'
18. Click the "Servers" tab.
19. Under “Outgoing Mail Server” check the box next to “My server requires authentication”
20. Click the 'Advanced' tab.
21. Under “Outgoing mail Server (SMTP)”, check the box next to “This server requires a secure connection (SSL). Enter port number “465” in the “Outgoing mail (SMTP)” field.
22. Under “Incoming mail (POP3)”, check the box next to “This server requires a secure connection (SSL)". The port number in the “Incoming mail (POP3)" field should automatically change from 110 to 995. If it doesn’t, make sure the port number is set to 995.

Why investing in Indian real estate is highly rewarding

With property boom spreading in all directions, real estate in India is touching new heights. Industry experts believe that Indian real estate has huge demand potential in almost every sector -- especially commercial, residential and retail. Policy

changes introduced by the Government in February 2005 allowed 100 per cent foreign investments in construction projects with fast-track approvals. But the real attraction for foreign investors is potential investment returns of 25 per cent and more in Indian projects that might be hard to come by in the US and in Western Europe today.

The positive outlook of Indian government is the key factor behind the sudden rise of the Indian Real Estate sector - the second largest employer after agriculture in India. This budding sector is today witnessing development in all area such as - residential, retail and commercial in metros of India such as Mumbai, Delhi &NCR, Kolkata and Chennai. Easier access to bank loans and higher earnings are some of the pivotal reasons behind the sudden jump in Indian real estate. Growth in commercial office space requirement is led by the burgeoning outsourcing and information technology (IT) industry.

By 2010, the IT sector alone is expected to require 150 million sq.ft. of space across major cities. It is estimated that in the residential sector there is a housing shortage of 19.4 million units out of which 6.7 million are in urban India.

The increase in purchasing power and exposure to organised retail formats has redefined the consumption pattern. As a result, retail projects have been mushrooming across even B-grade cities. The retail market is expected to grow at around 35 per cent. Industry observers feel that this growth is facilitated by favourable demographics, increasing purchasing power, existence of customer-friendly banks and housing finance companies, professionalism in real estate and reforms initiated by the Government to attract global investors.

Why Invest In Indian Real Estate
Flying high on the wings of booming real estate, property in India has become a dream for every potential investor looking forward to dig profits. All are eyeing Indian property market for a wide variety of reasons:

* It’s ever growing economy which is on a continuous rise with 8.1 percent increase witnessed in the last financial year. The boom in economy increases purchasing power of its people and creates demand for real estate sector.

* India is going to produce an estimated 2 million new graduates from various Indian universities during this year, creating demand for 100 million square feet of office and industrial space.

* Presence of a large number of Fortune 500 and other reputed companies will attract more companies to initiate their operational bases in India thus creating more demand for corporate space.

Recent big real estate deals in India
* The biggest mall of the world--Mall of India--planned by DLF Universal along NH-8--will have 32 acres spanning a huge entertainment area and large city town squares offering a total retail experience.

If the year 2006 was marked by some of the country's biggest land deals, the future of India is set to usher in the gold rush of realty.

A Norwegian hacks into Apple's iPhone

I recollect what Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO said when he unveiled the iPhone, he promised that it would put "the Internet in your pocket for the first time ever." I guess he might have meant internet of 1996s and not of 2007. Many first hand reviews

of the iphone suggest that there are many features that are not available in the iphone. You cannot place a Skype call nor buy a song from iTunes, no 3G support, no flash or java support. And to make things even worse iPhone is only available on AT&T network (Two-Year Contract and $175 Termination Fee). However within weeks of the launch hundreds of Hackers have been working on breaking the iPhone restriction codes.

Jon Johansen, 23, a prolific hacker from Norway claims on his blog to have found out a way to activate a brand new unactivated iPhone without giving any of your money or personal information to NSA AT&T. The iPhone does not have phone capability, but the iPod and WiFi work. Although this is to be tested and proved, but many prominent newspapers has considered this serious news. Jon also adds that his work is completely legal in his country. I wonder since when hacking into stuff is considered legal. He doesn’t face any legal action. Mostly known as DVD Jon, he has made softwares that crack codes allowing users copy DVDs online. Surprisingly enough, AT&T and Apple don’t have any problem with people hacking into this new technology.

Getting feeds from orkut communities is easy

Orkut as we know it, is really the coolest social networking site. It is very simple to use and is not like other feature-rich Social networking sites, this meant that even those users who were not very net savvy were able to learn it easily. Its not surprising that Orkut is the second most visited site in India (as per Alexa). Orkut also allows its users to create (easy-to-setup) forums (called "communities"). This being of AskWiki's. However the only thing i felt missing was... Orkut does not allow users to generate RSS feeds of Orkut communities. Although other active orkut users have been requesting orkut to have this functionality added to orkut. I happen to come accross a trick that could enable people to have feeds from any of the orkut community.

Two simple steps to be followed to get the source code of the orkut community feed
1. Go to the orkut community and copy the URL (eg. .. this being of AskWiki)
2. Got OrkutFeed and paste the URL and hit 'OK'. Thats it.. a new page appears with the source.

If your site feed is already listed via button form (which is to the right of the "big orange square" or the universal symbol for site feeds) then simply click on your preferred button (in this case I'm going to click on Google Reader) and subscribe.

Well this is the trick, however i still prefer Google or Mr. Buyukkokten to have this functionality added to Orkut.

By the way thanks you Mr. Buyukkokten for starting the official Orkut blog.. this was very much required..

SMS Accelerator For Symbian 3rd

This application accelerator to send of SMS messages for your nokia symbian series 60 3 rd editin. It is recommended that you install this application to prevent slowness in SMS sending, which may occur over time if you send lots of SMS messages.

You can download this application, then transfer and install it on your phone. This can be done in the following ways:

Download to your PC and transfer it to your memory card or phone, then run the application.
Use PC Suite "Install Applications".
Download directly from the nokia.com link in your phone's Services browser (where available) to your phone and install.

Please note that some users may find that the handset runs slower for a few minutes after the installation, before returning to normal. The application is invisible to the user.

Download
SMS Accelerator symbian s60 3rd edition

Solving Rubik's Cube now automated

Rubik's Cube (a mechanical puzzle aslo called the "Magic Cube") has always been a favourite for puzzle solvers, infact around the world many speedcubing competitions have been held to determine who can solve the Rubik's Cube in the shortest time. To

solve a Rubik's Cube puzzle many sequences of moves are written and shared, its called the 'algorithm'. It is a very efficient layer-by-layer method that requires a large number of algorithms, especially for orienting and permuting the layers of the cube. The algorithm database on alglist.ning.com is an extensive directory of moves, that can help you in learning, practicing and inventing new algorithms. Using the " F2U'R'LF2RL'U'F2 " sequence of move is the very common one.. Check out the animated version of this sequence.

Going a step further in solving the Rubik's puzzle Daniele Benedettelli has made a LEGO robot that can solve the Rubik’s Cube automatically. A motor actuates a prismatic joint that pushes the side of the cube; another rotates the cube’s support; the third one has the double function to help the pusher arm to accomodate the cube on the support and to hold the cube while the bottom face is rotated. The robot uses 2 touch sensors as limit switches for the arms and a light sensor to zero the rotating base.

Here is the video of the robot in action.

For more info on this methodology click here

Is Google planning to enter Web calling service ?

Well Google is back in news, continuing in its acquistion mode this time Google Inc has purchased Web-based phone service GrandCentral Communications. This information was shared via the official google blog, however it did not disclose the purchase price.

Califonia based GrandCentral's services let users personalize phone usage with Web-based features like the ability to assign a single phone number that rings various phones at once, records calls and accesses visual voicemail. Customers can hear voicemail online or from a phone and forward voicemails to others or post them to a blog.

Users can log into their online address book and then click on an entry to make a call. Once the user clicks on the number, GrandCentral calls the user's designated phone and then connects it to the number from the address book. On its web site, Grandcentral was pleased about the acquisition because it would assure users that their Grandcentral numbers will be around for the long term, no matter how many times users move or change jobs or phone providers.

Google will continue to support existing users without interruption but will issue only a limited number of invitations for new beta customers while it transitions the service over to Google. Interested users can ask for an invitation on the GrandCentral web site.

Internet-based phone services are a major growth area right now. eBay-owned Skype, a pioneer in the internet phone market, has signed up more than 200 million users for its free or low-cost phone services globally. Newer names in the field include venture-backed firms Jajah, Jangl, Jaxtr and Rebtel, which together have signed up millions of users in the past year.

These new developments lead to a speculation of Google entering the Web calling service..

Why Investing in India is very rewarding

Indian economy is growing really fast... It's the second fastest growing economy on the planet, and it’s not surprise that India is brimming with plenty of investment opportunities. Just recently, American Express predicted that India's 100,000 'dollar millionaires' will grow by 12.8% a year for the next three years. That's a whole lot of rich Indians. What's more, McKinsey Global Institute predicts that the average Indian's income will triple by 2025.

The first and second-generation reforms have created a conducive environment for foreign investments in India. Market oriented policies are boosting economic

activity, all round development and GDP growth rate. Government procedures are constantly being simplified and paper work minimised. As the Indian economy gears for competition in the international market, overseas investors clearly see the potential for attractive returns from investments in India, which is also evident from the many FDI success stories already achieved.

The country is set to capture 1% of global trade soon, while merchandise exports have grown an average of 24% a year over the past four years, according to Economy Watch. Goldman Sachs predicts India will rise to be the third largest economy in the world by the year 2035.

India's influence on the world economy will be bigger and quicker than what was implied earlier, Goldman Sachs has reported. It also predicts 8% sustainable growth for India till 2020 (Click here for more details on the report)
More Quality Links :
Ready Reckoner on Investing in India
The Complete Goldman Sachs Report

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