Western Digital My Passport Essential drives available with :: Posted by THRASHER2
Western Digital's My Passport Essential external/portable hard drives have become a bit more attractive thanks to the introduction of five new case designs - Boom Box, Black Hole, Cityscape, Fuchsia Leaf and Wave, created by California State University students.
Beside the new skins, the drives feature 500GB worth of storage space, a USB 2.0 interface, 256-bit hardware encryption, and are bundled with the WD SmartWare software providing data backup.
"The contents of individuals' portable storage contain all the ways they express themselves - music, images, and videos - and tell a story about who they are," said Dale Pistilli, vice president of marketing of WD's branded products group. "Expressing individual style is important. That's why we teamed up with California State University, Long Beach design students, who have their finger on the latest fashion trends."
The pimped-out My Passport Essential HDDs are backed by a two-year warranty and cost $119.99.
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Shuttle unveils the SH55J2 LGA 1156-based barebone :: Posted by THRASHER2
Shuttle Europe has just announced the SH55J2, a new XPC barebone that's ready and willing to be turned into a powerful and compact HTPC or gaming rig. This latest model is based on an Intel LGA 1156 platform and is equipped with an Intel H55 motherboard.
The SH55J2 makes use of a J2-type aluminum chassis measuring 33 x 21.5 x 19 cm, supports Core i3/i5/i7 processors, up to 16GB of RAM, has one PCI-Express x16 slot (a dual-slot graphics card can be used), four SATA 3.0 Gbps ports, a 4-in-1 card reader, and includes a 300W power supply.
Shuttle's new XPC barebone is shipping on the Old Continent and has a recommended price tag of € 251 (without VAT).
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Enermax officially intros the 800W and 900W MODU87+ :: Posted by THRASHER2
Confirming the findings made earlier this month, Enermax has today launched two more MODU87+ modular power supplies, the EMG800EWT and EMG900EWT models which can provide 800W and 900W of continuous power, respectively.
The two high-power units feature a DHT (Dynamic Hybrid Transformer) design, an efficiency of up to 92% (they are 80Plus Gold certified), a Hybrid Capacitor array (containing solid state capacitors and Japanese electrolytic capacitors), an AC cord 'guard', a low-noise 13.9cm Twister-bearing fan, and boast four 12V rails.
The 800W MODU87+ PSU can now be found @ €175, while the 900W unit is expected to become available next week @ €300. Both are backed by a five-year warranty.
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Razer details its TRON-themed peripherals :: Posted by THRASHER2
After a bit of teasing, Razer has now finally provided the full scoop on the peripherals made in collaboration with Disney to promote the upcoming TRON: Legacy movie, a TRON-themed gaming keyboard, a gaming mouse and a mouse mat.
Priced at $150, the keyboard has back and side illumination, a detachable keypad, lighting effects triggered by in-game actions, programmable chiclet (Hyperesponse) keys, and headphone, microphone jacks.
The TRON rodent is priced at $100 and features an ambidextrous design, blue lighting (with alerts), a 5600 DPI laser sensor, seven Hyperesponse buttons, and USB connectivity via a 7-foot braided cable.
Last but not least, the gaming mat has a bio-luminescent tracking glow trail, provides a high precision tracking surface, and is set to be bundled with the TRON mouse for $130. All three TRON-themed offerings are expected to become available in Q4.
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SilverStone coming up with tweaked PS01 chassis :: Posted by THRASHER2
SilverStone Technology is currently preparing the introduction of a refreshed version of its Precision series PS01 tower case. The chassis in question is known as PS01-E and is lighter than its predecessor (up to 6.74kg vs 7kg), and has a black interior (grey on the PS01).
SilverStone's mid-tower case measures 200 (W) x 456 (H) x 500 (D) mm, has nine exposed 5.25-inch bays, front USB, audio and FireWire ports, a motherboard tray cut-out for easy installs of coolers that use a backplate, and two 120mm fans, one with a blue LED in front and one with no lights at the rear - both working at 1200 RPM (rotations per minute).
The Precision PS01-E will be available with and without a side window and is said to cost €70.
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Alleged GeForce GTS 450 PCB schematics surface :: Posted by THRASHER2
More DirectX 11 is supposed to come out way next month in the form of the GeForce GTS 450, the first Nvidia card to be powered by the 40nm GF106 GPU. Unfortunately there are no images of the upcoming model but a pair of images showing what appears to be the GTS 450's PCB have hit the interweb.
From what we can see, the GF106 is a nice, square chip unlike the GF104 which is rectangular, while the GTS 450 features 3+1 phase power, one 6-pin PCIe power connector, one SLI connector, two DVI and a mini HDMI output, and six memory chips.
The GeForce GTX 450's specs are still unclear although reports claim that the card will have a 128-bit interface, just like its direct rival, the Radeon HD 5770. We'll know more in the coming weeks as Nvidia can't keep a secret.
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Dell paying $100 million to make accounting fraud charges :: Posted by THRASHER2
PC builder Dell and the US SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) have reached an agreement that will end the latter's investigation regarding Dell's commercial relationship with Intel and its allegedly-fraudulent accounting practices between 2001 and 2006.
Through the settlement Dell hasn't admitted or denied SEC's allegations but will be paying a civil monetary penalty of $100 million. Moreover, Dell accepted an injunction that should prevent future violations of SEC rules, and agreed to retain an independent consultant to "enhance its disclosure processes, practices and controls."
Dell's CEO, Michael Dell, has also settled with SEC and will pay $4 million as penalty.
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After the Shelf and Flow models, a third KÃœHLER series CPU :: Posted by THRASHER2
After the Shelf and Flow models, a third KÃœHLER series CPU cooler has now made its way into (some) stores to provide PC users with more choice for their low temperature needs, the dual-tower design-based KÃœHLER Box.
Seen below, Antec's new cooler measures 148 (H) x 122 (W) x 120 (D) mm and weights a scary 1.2kg, features two aluminum heatsinks, eight copper heatpipes and a 120mm PWM fan located in the center of it all.
The KÃœHLER Box has support for Intel LGA 775/1156/1366 and AMD AM2/AM2+/AM3 processors and can be found here priced at $66.
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GPU Caps Viewer moves up to version 1.8.8 :: Posted by THRASHER2
If you think GPU-Shark is too 'light' for your needs then worry not because an updated version of GPU Caps Viewer, which offers a heap of graphics card info (specs, temps, driver version, API support) plus OpenGL & OpenCL demos, has now been released.
GPU Caps Viewer 1.8.8 is available for download here and it features the following changes/additions:
- New: added the support of GTX 465 and 460.
- New: a button to launch an advanced GPU monitoring tool has been added in the first panel (GPU/CPU).
- New: in OpenGL panel, the number of GL and WGL extensions is displayed.
- New: added new subvendors: Zotac, Palit and Gigabyte.
- Change: OpenGL extensions are now fetched with the method described here
- Change: now the max values of CPU, memory and shader (shader: NV only) clocks and VDDC are displayed for Radeon and GeForce cards.
- Change: minor updates in the code of the OpenCL demos for a good working with latest NV and AMD drivers.
- Bugfix: in the first panel, only the features of first OpenCL device are displayed.
- Update: compiled with the latest version of ZoomGPU and GLEW.
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Arctic unveils the Silentium T11 case and HC 01-TC HDD :: Posted by THRASHER2
Out to expand its product offer some more, Swiss company Arctic has designed and today announced the Silentium T11 mid-tower PC chassis and the HC 01-TC hard drive cooler, the former being set for a mid-October introduction, while the latter for a late August release.
Coming in black and white versions, the steel-made case measures 49 (L) x 43 (H) x 19 (W) cm, and has four exposed 5.25-inch bays, front-placed USB and audio ports (two of each), enables the tool-free installation of optical drives and comes equipped with two 120mm temperature controlled fans. The Silentium T11 is backed by a two-year warranty and will cost $59.95 / €49.95 (without VAT).
The HC 01-TC is 147 by 42 by 187 mm and is basically an internal enclosure that fits into a 5.25-inch bay and can house a 3.5-inch SATA hard or solid state drive. The cooler is packed with absorption foam to prevent vibration noise and boasts a 40mm fan working at 1600 to 4600 RPM. This one is set to cost $22.95 / €17.95 and also comes with a two-year warranty.
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HD 5670 1GB CrossFireX pitted against GTX 460 :: Posted by THRASHER2
Today we will use two HD 5670 1GB in CrossFire to hound a single GTX 460 768MB. We found this comparison could be interesting because at the moment you can get one GTX 460 768MB for the price of two HD 5670 1GB cards. Before we go further to the results page please note that not each HD 5670 is CrossFire ready. The card you want use for doubling the performance must have a CrossFire bridge on the PCB, and most of them out there do not have it. We got lucky as the cards we got from XFX and Sapphire have the aforementioned bridge.
Using HD 5670 cards without the CrossFire bridge you will result in the following message:
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Athlon II X2 270u comes in Q3 2010 :: Posted by THRASHER2
2.0GHz, 25W dual-core
AMD has one more ultra low power based on C3 revision of the Regor dual-core and this time we are talking about the Athlon II X2 270u low power CPU. This is a 25W dual-core that supports DDR3 1333, has 2MB of cache and fits in AM3 motherboards.
This model tops the previous king of this market, the 25W Athlon II X2 260u clocked at 1.8GHz. For a new core revision, the Athlon II X2 270u offers a lot, as it has a 200MHz higher clock, but still retains the same 25W TDP.
Low power computing enthusiast will definitely be happy about this CPU but the only thing is that these products are priced quite high, but a 25W TDP obviously has to have its price.
If you donÂ’t really need a 25W TDP you can get an Athlon II X 260 at 3.2GHz and 65W TDP for $75 which is half the price of Athlon II X2 270u.
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Geforce GTS 450 to arrive at end of August :: Posted by THRASHER2
New GF104-based cards may also surface
According to Donanimhaber.com, Nvidia's upcoming 40nm GF106-based graphics card, the Geforce GTS 450, will have a 128-bit memory interface and is expected to launch by the end of August.
Although information is scarce and we donÂ’t have exact hardware specifications, there have been a couple of rumours regarding the fact that the Geforce GTS 450 will be based on GF106 architecture and will feature a 128-bit memory interface.
As we wrote earlier, there is also a chance that Nvidia will roll out a few more GF104-based cards to accompany the recently launched Geforce GTX 460. In particular, one should feature a fully working GF104 core to replace the heat-ridden Geforce GTX 470 and the other should be a crippled GF104 version launching right below the GTX 460. In short, this proposed "Geforce GTX 475" card based on second-generation Fermi architecture would effectively kill off the high end Geforce GTX 470, while the crippled "Geforce GTS 455" would be introduced as another mainstream product. Such rumours have been floating around for quite some time, but we advise to take them with a pinch of salt.
Nvidia is hoping that GF106 will manage to steal back part of the mainstream graphics market, which has been dominated by ATI for quite some time. However, itÂ’s worth noting that ATI will introduce new mainstream parts towards the end of the year, giving Nvidia only a few months of breathing space before new 40nm Southern Islands parts come into the fray.
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Corsair rolls out new Force SSDs :: Posted by THRASHER2
With 40, 80 and 160GB models
Corsair has expanded its Force series of solid state drives based on the Sandforce SF-1200 controller with three new models. All three new models are quite similar to the previously released Force series SSDs except for their lower capacity.
The new SSDs feature same standard 2.5-inch form factor, SATA 3.0Gbps interface, noted SF-1200 controller paired up with MLC NAND flash chips, and TRIM support. All three will feature maximum read and write speeds of up to 285MB/s and 275MB/s with 50,000 IOPS on 4K random write IOMeter test.
Same as the entire Force Series, these three new SSDs will also be backed by a three-year warranty and should appear in retail/e-tail sometimes during August with suggested retail price set at US $129.99, US $229.99 and US $449.99.
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Microsoft will cut Xbox 360 price :: Posted by THRASHER2
Not till next year, however
Whispers from the shadows tell us that Microsoft is in much better shape than many of us might have realized, and that will translate into a price cut that is expected to come next year. Due to cost improvements, Microsoft is apparently making more money on the Xbox 360 slim than it has made in a long time.
According to our sources, it is likely that Microsoft will drop the prices of both the low-end and high-end models by as much as $50 next year. It is already being suggested that the news could come as soon as E3 next year.
In addition to the price drop of the console next year, our sources are already squawking that they expect the price on Kinect to drop, as well. The plan apparently is for the price to drop in two phases, the first of which will see a price drop when Microsoft repackages to drop the Kinect Adventures pack-in title; and then a second drop closer to the holidays next year.
While we believe some of this is pure speculation, we do think our source on this one is likely right.
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Verizon shows Apple how to behave :: Posted by THRASHER2
Offers to fix dodgy Droids
Teleco Verizon has shown rivals Apple what to do when your flagship smartphone does not work the way users want.
Instead of ignoring complaints and telling users to “get over it”, Verizon has admitted that a small number of Droid X users have problems with flickering displays on the recently released device. Instead of offering a rubber band to deal with the problem, Verzon has complained to Motorola which has fixed it.
Instead of blaming rivals, the media, and the dog for eating its homework, Verizon has offered to replace the phones. So while Apple users are praising Steve Jobs for giving them free rubber band which may, or may not fix his poor design problems, Verizon users get a new fixed phone.
In addition, Verizon did not call a big press conference inviting only only its tame hacks and spend hours justifying itself without actually doing anything. It issued a press release and got on with it. The idea of spin over actually doing something did not appear to occur to Verizon, which means that it should have top marks from users.
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Apple set to be the biggest OEM in the Far East :: Posted by THRASHER2
iSuppli notes the rise of Jobs' Mob
Analyst iSuppli claims that Apple is set to become the biggest buyer of hardware from the Far East with considerable economic clout.
According to a report penned by Min-Sun Moon, senior analyst for semiconductor spend and design at iSuppli the iPad and iPhone is expected to make Apple the world's second-largest OEM semiconductor buyer in 2011.
This could make it the world's top chip purchaser in 2012. With projected semiconductor spending in 2011 of US$16.2 billion, Apple will leap over Samsung Electronics said iSuppli. It will move the company to a close second place behind HP which will retain its No. 1 ranking in 2011 thanks to US$17.1 billion in spending, but might challenge it by 2012.
Spending ranking represents a position of prestige. An advancement in the rankings means that a company has been successful in introducing new products and that it is allocating more dollars in research and development. But it also means that suppliers have to be a lot nicer too you. They have to call you “sir”, or madam, and get out the chocolate biscuits for the meetings rather than the old tea-buscuits.
The next five companies following Apple, in descending order, are Lenovo, SanDisk, RIM, Cisco and Acer.
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28nm graphics process to arrive in late 2011 :: Posted by THRASHER2
More than a year from now
For both Nvidia and ATI, it will take more than a year to see the first high performance graphics chips in 28nm shipping to customers.
The reason is quite obvious. Both major fab players, TSMC and Global Foundries, will need time to get the 28nm process to where they want it. TSMC wants to be extra careful with 28nm and its 40nm was all but easy and lack of 40nm chips in Q4 2009 and Q1 2010 cost ATI millions.
The 28nm demo production starts this year, it should be ready shortly and we are quite sure that next generation ATI gets developed in both TSMC and Global Foundries and the winner will get more business. NvidiaÂ’s 28nm is TSMC only and this remains for the time being. However, if Global Foundries do a good job on ATIÂ’s 28nm chips, then Nvidia might turn to them.
In late 2010 ATI will introduce its 40nm tweaked Radeon HD 6000 generation while Nvidia comes up with its GF104 based on similar chips and the rest of 2010 and first part of 2011 is exclusive for 40nm and nothing smaller, at least in graphics.
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Llano CPU power inferior to Sandy Bridge :: Posted by THRASHER2
But the graphics win
Llano is the first real Fusion product, something that we have been waiting for almost five years. When we say real, then we mean that it has the high performance x86 core inside, something that goes neck to neck with current Core i generation as well s Phenom IIÂ’s and Athlon IIÂ’s.
AMD should show Ontario, a 40nm Atom competitor powered with Bobcat core, in late 2010 with volume shipmets in early 2011. This one does not compete with Arrandale and Clarkdale or Sandy Bridge, Intel's all integrated CPU scheduled for early 2011.
Since Llano is 32nm, it has a new core that is unfortunately based on K10 concepts. The K10 got shrunk from 65nm to 45nm and it looks like that Llano will get this same core, optimized and shrunk once again.
The Llano CPU is in design and performance should get quite close to current dual and quad-core Athlon and Phenom II parts, but obviously there will be some room for improvement, since the transistors will get significantly smaller and the TDP at the same clock should go down.
Sandy Bridge is going to win the CPU performance battle, this is at least what our sources are telling us, but since it has Redwood inside, Llano should win the graphics performance battle. AMD will have a hard time to find enough OEMs to carry its products and enough customers to go the AMD green way, but well informed consumers might go for Llano powered PC simply for its better graphics.
We believe that the performance difference between two CPU cores won’t be mind blowing and that each of these two monolithic CPU and GPU on one core chips will be a good choice. The sad part for AMD is that Intel gets there first as its already showed a prototype of CPU – GPU Sandy Bridge back in September 2009 almost nine months before AMD, and AMD is the one who announced back in 2006 that its Fusion chips are coming.
After Llano, AMD plans to use Bulldozer core in its next generation Fusion, that is probably comming in 2012 if not later.
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First glimpse at GELID Solutions ICY VISION :: Posted by THRASHER2
Preview: Multi-compatible VGA Cooler
We got a chance to try out GELID SolutionsÂ’ ICY VISION, a new contender in the heatsink market. This preview will show our first impressions and some preliminary test results.
We used the ICY VISION aftermarket GPU cooler on NvidiaÂ’s GTX 480 and as all you know, GTX 480 is the hottest and loudest card on the market. So, if ICY VISION can cope with this graphics card, it will be ready to cool down any other single GPU graphics card.
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SilverStone Fortress FT02 chassis gets reviewed :: Posted by THRASHER2
For the past several months, we have been eyeing a particular chassis coming from the deep, inner depths of SilverStoneÂ’s mid-tower manufacturing line, a potential masterpiece of engineering released to the mass market of enthusiast system builders with exceptional design traits and form factor qualities. Over the past few years of its foundations in the PC hardware industry, many have come to know SilverStone for its design philosophy of appealing to a wide range of specific enthusiast needs. In the computer case and chassis market, we have known the company to aggressively produce a series of uniquely designed products that often poke fun at higher priced competitor offerings due to their underestimated ventilation and heat dissipation capabilities.
When the company reintroduced its 90-degree motherboard mounting design last summer with the Raven RV02 chassis, we noted that it combined a mainstream product design with triple 180mm intake fans for the demands of enthusiast-grade airflow performance. After all, the properties of thermodynamics naturally insist that heat rises, leading SilverStone to construct an airflow layout where hot exhaust can be pushed out the top of the chassis. With the combination of a solidly built exterior and adequate mounting room for the most demanding multi-GPU hardware configurations at the time, we remained confident that the Raven RV02 provided all the amenities that any enthuasist consumer could want without holding back on unique aesthetic qualities to appeal to the mainstream market.
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Asus intros the mother of all Atom boards :: Posted by THRASHER2
Atom D525, ION 2, USB 3.0
Asus has introduced a new Atom ITX board and weÂ’re glad to report that it is the best specÂ’d Atom board on the market, but itÂ’s also the priciest.
The AT5IONT-I packs a dual-core Atom D525 processor clocked at 1.8GHz and it features two DDR3 SO-DIMM slots. ItÂ’s passively cooled, which comes as no surprise considering the 13W TDP.
A PCIe x4 slot is also on board, as well as 2 USB 3.0 ports, 2 USB 2.0 ports, eSATA and b/g/n wireless.
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IBM releases new supercomputer :: Posted by THRASHER2
All abuzz for the zEnterprise
IBM has shown off a a new mainframe computer called "zEnterprise," which it said was the most powerful mainframe ever and is more cost-efficient.
The move comes as Biggish Blue seeks to secure its market leadership in mainframes over the likes of HP and Oracle. The big three are targeting corporate data centres, which are using supercomputers as central number crunchers..
IBM said its zEnterprise is 40 percent to 60 percent faster than its predecessor, System z10, but uses about the same amount of electricity. No word on price of the product, but said its price relative to capacity would be lower than for the z10.
Big Blue said that it spent $1.5 billion on research and development for the zEnterprise system in a 4-year project involving over 5,000 of its employees. The core server in the zEnterprise system uses 5.2GHz chips.
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NEC cuts prices for USB 3.0 chips :: Posted by THRASHER2
Counters competition fromTaiwan
Japanese chipmaker NEC is planning to slash prices for its first- and second-generation USB 3.0 chips in the fourth quarter and will launch its next-generation models with a price below US$2 in the first quarter of 2011.
Digitimes said that market watchers expect USB 3.0 chip shipments to reach 20 million units in 2010 and over 40 million units in 2011. Mostly it is Taiwan-based chipmakers ASMedia Technology, a subsidiary of Asustek Computer; VIA Technology; Etron Technology and US-based Fresco Logic who are cleaning up. ASMedia has cut its USB 3.0 chip prices down to US$1.7-1.8 for batch orders recently, but NEC has a bit of time before its rivals make any significant impact.
All three Taiwan-based chipmakers have not yet passed certification by USB-IF and their USB 3.0 chips can't ship until October or November. NEC currently has more than 90 per cent share of the USB 3.0 market and its price cut in the fourth quarter is expected to help further strengthen its position.
On top of that it has a range of third-generation USB 3.0 chips, which feature higher performance and lower power consumption. This is not much more expensive than the cheaper older gear and should also help to see off opposition.
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Powercolor rolls out its second water cooled HD 5870 :: Posted by THRASHER2
Better cooling, better PCB
You may all remember Powercolor's LCS HD 5870 that was launched back in November last year, and back then, this was the first single-slot HD 5870 that featured a water block. Today, Powercolor decided to launch a second version of this card, the LCS HD 5870 V2 featuring an improved PCB and a new water block. The new card will have a better overclocking capability, same price, and lower temperatures.
The new version features the updated water block from EK Water Blocks. It runs at 950MHz for the GPU and 4800MHz for 1GB of GDDR5 memory paired up with a 256-bit memory interface. The secret behind the improved overclocking capability is the fact that this one features the same PCB used on the PCS++ HD 5870 card.
According to Powercolor, the new water block is capable of keeping the GPU at 50 degrees Celsius, which is a nice results considering that they are talking about load temperature.
The card is bundled with a download voucher for Dirt 2 game. As noted, the price should be similar to the price of the first HD 5870 LCS, so you can expect it to hit retail/e-tail shelves at a bit over €400. The card should be available during first week of August.
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