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Contrary to popular perception, it turns out the internet isn't just for porn. I probably spend about 1/3rd of my time online using Google Reader, which aggregates RSS feeds into one convenient location. I'm always on the lookout for great blogs or websites to follow, so I figured I'd ask what TL reads. Obviously, these don't necessarily have to be limited to TL blogs, though there are certainly some great blogs here.
Below I've also compiled a list of some of my favorite blogs by category, and a short description. This seemed like a pretty simple idea at first but then I realized how many different things I read. Perhaps an ongoing project?
American Politics + Show Spoiler +In the interest of full disclosure, my politics lean left (using the American definition). I used to follow several more blogs, but I eventually removed the ones with heavy posting frequency (ex: DailyKos, Americablog) because there was just too much to go through, and ultimately I felt that half of the stuff really wasn't *that* worth reading at the moment. That is to say, I would have been perfectly fine reading a more organized, analyzed, and consolidated version later on. Different blogs have different purposes, and compile information accordingly. 538Probably one of the better known blogs on political polling and statistics, Nate Silver does a good job of taking a whole lot of numbers and explaining what they mean. For example, if you're curious why Obama's projected advantage in the presidential election is arguably a bit larger than it actually seems based purely on popular vote projections, this is the place to go. Obsidian WingsBecause it's a group blog, you get a nice mix of posting styles. Some of the authors look at things from a statistical perspective, others philosophical, still others sociological. Covers a fairly wide variety of topics, generally somewhat related to politics and/or society. Not always light reading, but in general it's clear that a fair amount of thought is put into posts. The Republic of TProbably one of the more outspoken left-leaning blogs I follow. I like his writing style not due to any political preference, but rather because pretty much every single one of his posts (excepting the ones in which he links to other blogs talking about a given topic each week) are extensively sourced, and make more great reading if you're interested in learning more about a given subject.
Anime/Comics/Manga/Games + Show Spoiler +Awkward ZombieVideo game webcomic by Katie Tiedrich about a wide variety of games, and (in my opinion) consistently amusing. In particular, I enjoy Smash Brother comics, though the ones she does on WoW and Fire Emblem tend to be very good as well. Escher GirlsA blog that perfectly illustrates how female characters in fiction (primarily American comic books, but not exclusively) are drawn in impossible or ridiculous poses or with disturbing anatomy because the artists feel a need to show "teh sexy". As an aspiring manga illustrator, I really like this blog because it also posts redraws or drawings with poor anatomy, showing what the characters might look like with more believable anatomy, and generally improving the sense of believability in your drawings. FrazzIn my mind, the American comic strip that comes closest to the magic of Calvin and Hobbes. Not quite there, in part because Bill Watterson was simply a genius ahead of his time, but one of my favorite ongoing comic strips. Pearls Before SwineAnother great comic strip that doesn't take itself too seriously, a fresh breath of air from the... let's just say "consistency" of Cathy, Garfield, and the Family Circus. Don't get me wrong, there's a time and place for Garfield, and I'll certainly admit to chuckling at a few strips here and there. The incongruity between cute anthropomorphic characters and the dark themes surrounding them is also quite funny. The OatmealI'm fairly certain most people here are familiar with the Oatmeal already. Go read it. XKCDAlso a blog that I'm sure 80% (conservatively speaking) of TL reads. Still, putting it here because I can't risk someone missing it. Exploring BelievabilityAs someone who dabbled in game and manga design before, this is arguably one of the most fascinating blogs I subscribe to. J. Shea's stated goal is to "talk about fun", but the blog is about so much more than that. Discusses the role of clothing, atmosphere, consistency, color, psychology, and other themes on the subject of video games.
Sociology + Show Spoiler +Alas! A blogI hesitate to categorize this under sociology because it covers a wide variety of topics. The blog itself is somewhat similar to the likes of Obsidian Wings mentioned above in terms of topics covered (though it does have a bit more posts regarding feminist and LGBT issues), but I like it because of the culture the blog comment section has developed, making it one of my favorite places for mature back and forth discussion between mutually respectful viewpoints. In this day and age of the internet, that's pretty rare. TL does a nice job through moderation, but sheer volume makes it hard to really discuss anything because there are just too many people involved in any given conversation. That's one of the pros of having a relatively unpopular blog, haha. Pigtail PalsDon't let the name turn you off, this is a *very* interesting blog, mostly because it talks about stuff I actually have very little personal experience about - raising children in the (American) consumer environment. It helps explore and challenge societal conventions, and I think that's a wonderful thing, in that it helps me to think about things from a perspective I might not have considered before. Any blog that encourages parents not to pigeonhole their children into pre-defined gender/societal roles is a plus for me. I love it when girls love sports and play with legos, and when boys aren't afraid to learn how to bake and cook. Discusses childhood and what the writers perceive is the garbage being marketed to children, which is a pretty fair assessment. Sociological ImagesA blog by two sociology professors.The initial motivation for the blog was to create a place for professors to swap images, the goal being to encourage people to exercise and develop their sociological imagination by presenting brief sociological discussions of compelling and timely imagery that spans the breadth of sociological inquiry. Talks about advertisements, pictures, graphs, and photos with commentary.
Military + Show Spoiler +Army of DudeOne of my favorite "grunt" blogs by an American soldier on the ground.I studied Political Science in college, and generally analyzed the military as a whole and conflict from a "macro" perspective, and it's great reading a blog that's not as abstract and constrained by convention. In a sense, somewhat similar to the great "Generation Kill" by Evan Wright, if it just followed the life of one soldier. The blog isn't really updated anymore because the author is now in school after completing active duty, but his archives are wonderful reading, and an important point of view to keep in mind as America is becoming increasingly divorced from the realities of modern war. To be sure, it's not a comprehensive view, nor is it always fair, but it shouldn't be. IMINTOpen source military analysis, strategic thinking, and imagery interpretation. As a military nerd, this is absolutely perfect. In particular, I recommend this post on Taiwan's SAM (Surface to Air Missile) network. Once you get the hang of identifying things from satellite photos, wasting time on Google Earth because even more fun than it already was before. Wait... is that a decommissioned bomber fleet sitting in the middle of the desert? Kings of WarKings of War is a blog by various faculty and research students of the Department of War Studies, King's College London. Some of the stuff may be a bit overly abstract and philosophical at times, but it's pretty deep is you can keep up. The comment section is also very good when it gets started. That is to say, most posts don't receive all that many comments, but those that would be inclined to post here generally have something insightful to say. MilPubGroup blog on primarily military issues. Great comment section, and the perspectives provided from several writers that used to be in uniform are pretty cool. On ViolenceA blog on counter-insurgency warfare, military and foreign affairs, art, and violence, written by two brothers--one a soldier and the other a pacifist. The blog primarily talks about foreign affairs and military culture. They explore the concept of violence using non-fiction, journalism, statistics, and history.
Random + Show Spoiler +The Simple Dollar"The Simple Dollar is a blog for those of us who need both cents and sense: people fighting debt and bad spending habits while building a financially secure future and still affording a latte or two. Our busy lives are crazy enough without having to compare five hundred mutual funds – we just want simple ways to manage our finances and save a little money." The author of the blog (Trent) went through a complete financial meltdown, and threw himself head first into trying to figure out every nuance of fixing his financial situation, and after a few months began to get the picture. Within eight months, he had paid off all of his credit card debt, paid off his vehicle, and also established an emergency fund. Since he already had a passion for writing and had learned so much about how personal finance really works, he began blogging about what he'd learned to help people who were struggling with the same things. A must-read blog, especially for those of us in our twenties and early-thirties with a shaky grasp on finances. Waiter RantAs someone who used to work in the service industry, this blog resonates a lot with me. I think the most valuable thing Waiter Rant did for me was to create more empathy for others, and to think about the stories behind the lives of the many people you meet each day. It helps that The Waiter is an absolutely wonderful writer, and quite deep due to extensive life experience. Topics of choice run the gamut from rude customers to bad tippers to conversations had throughout the day. There are also often posts about things occurring outside the restaurant which lead him to observations and reflections. There are many references to his past as a seminarian, as well as posts referencing his work in mental health care at an undisclosed psychiatric hospital. Informed CommentProfessor Juan Cole's (one of my profs at the University of Michigan) personal blog on the Middle East, history, and religion. Agree or disagree on his views, but he definitely provides an informed perspective no matter what side he takes on any issue.
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I only read two blogs... my own here on this site, and Counterpunch.org :-)
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torte de lini's blog and my own when im editing
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To name a few:
-TLADT (Team Liquid Anime Discussion thread) -Randomc.net (Anime blog site) -vndb.net (visual novel database)
Not much variety c: lol
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King Charlie's blog is a pretty amusing one on this website: The tale of a kid growing up in a dysfunctional family with philosophical musings thrown in. The humor isn't for everyone, but I find it amusing.
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I don't subscribe to any blogs but i only read two anyways:
http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/ If you call yourself a programmer you either read this blog or you are lying.
http://joelonsoftware.com/ The newer stuff isn't that interesting but he has a lot of very interesting older articles, from programming and project management to recruiting and leading a company he covers all topics relevant for software development companies. Sadly he mostly stopped writing and only blogs about tech shows of his company.
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i LOVE pearls before swine always been a favorite
Thanks for this great list Now I'll actually have something to do
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[girl blog]'s.... funnier than any king charlie blog.
<3 teh internet
In reality I don't find many subscriptions, if something catches my eye I'll read it but I rarely make a habit out of any blogs. One website/blog/comic that have managed to keep up with throughout the years is CTRL ALT DEL.
Also Don't Even Reply is FUCKING HILARIOUS.
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Used to keep up with the LFG comic but it's been a while now, should probably read it all again
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South Africa4316 Posts
Nice list, thanks! I've favourited a few of those now Personally, I follow:
Sport: Cricinfo (http://www.cricinfo.com): General cricket news.
Tech: Ars technica (http://www.arstechnica.com/): Focuses more on editorials than most tech sites. Also writes good articles on the interaction between Law and Technology. Wired (http://www.wired.com/): Just a general technology site. Good for science things too. TechCrunch (http://techcrunch.com/): Looks more at the business side of technology. Engadget (http://www.engadget.com/): Looks purely at new technology and devices.
General info: BoingBoing (http://boingboing.net/): Multiple writers with multiple favourite topics, it's just a blog about things that are generally interesting. MentalFloss (http://mentalfloss.com/): Blog that focused on teaching you random new things every day.
Gaming: Rock Paper Shotgun (http://www.rockpapershotgun.com): Gaming blog mostly focused on indie games. PCGamer (http://www.pcgamer.com/): Just my general gaming info blog.
Art and Design: Laughing Squid (http://laughingsquid.com/): A good mixture of art, design and humour. Coolhunting (http://www.coolhunting.com/): A general blog on art and design.
Other Metacritic (http://www.metacritic.com/): I visit metacritic once every few days to see if any interesting music or TV shows were released recently.
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Germany2896 Posts
What's so great about it? It's rarely insightful, many entries are borderline trolling,...
http://joelonsoftware.com/The newer stuff isn't that interesting but he has a lot of very interesting older articles, from programming and project management to recruiting and leading a company he covers all topics relevant for software development companies. Sadly he mostly stopped writing and only blogs about tech shows of his company. Joel's old blogs were great. Pity he doesn't write anything interesting nowadays.
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ericlippert/ My favourite blog. By one of the C# developers. Gives nice insights into which kinds of strange corner cases language designers need to consider. He's a great writer too.
I also read oldnewthing, but it got a bit repetitive after a while.
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FuDDx
United States4999 Posts
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Had high hopes for the escher girls blog after reading your description, but ended up being pretty disappointed. The author will sometimes draw them a little more anatomically correct (which is more a criticism of art style than anything else, sorry), but won't draw them particularly more feminist. Most of the time the posts are herp der 'isn't she cold' comments that dumb guys say when girls are around to show how critical they are. Big focus on quantity rather than quality.
I guess because of your description, I had envisioned someone trying to reimagine heavily sexualized women (to the point of extreme objectification) in comics as characters at least some of the more moderate feminist philosophies would approve of, as characters who are much more than their sexuality and become more complete human beings. So like Wonder Woman standing like a normal human being with normal sized hips and a reimagined outfit that isn't absurd. Not 'oh hey, some ads on the internet are badly photoshopped, isn't that offensice?' and then posting the equality objectifying original.
As far as blogs I like, there aren't too many. I find Manifesto7's blog particularly insightful, and there's a fair number of users who if I see them in the sidebar on TL I'll definitely read. Blogs off TL are almost uniformly intolerable for me tho.
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Escher Girls is an eye-opener. Luckily I mostly read manga where there's not that kind of pose :p
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On July 31 2012 01:01 Chef wrote: Had high hopes for the escher girls blog after reading your description, but ended up being pretty disappointed. The author will sometimes draw them a little more anatomically correct (which is more a criticism of art style than anything else, sorry), but won't draw them particularly more feminist. Most of the time the posts are herp der 'isn't she cold' comments that dumb guys say when girls are around to show how critical they are. Big focus on quantity rather than quality.
I guess because of your description, I had envisioned someone trying to reimagine heavily sexualized women (to the point of extreme objectification) in comics as characters at least some of the more moderate feminist philosophies would approve of, as characters who are much more than their sexuality and become more complete human beings. So like Wonder Woman standing like a normal human being with normal sized hips and a reimagined outfit that isn't absurd. Not 'oh hey, some ads on the internet are badly photoshopped, isn't that offensice?' and then posting the equality objectifying original.
As far as blogs I like, there aren't too many. I find Manifesto7's blog particularly insightful, and there's a fair number of users who if I see them in the sidebar on TL I'll definitely read. Blogs off TL are almost uniformly intolerable for me tho.
Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. I wanted to reply to Chef's post in particular here. I think Escher Girls is interesting to me partly *because* of its volume, showing how pervasive this "style" is. It's hard to define what a feminist drawing is like, and the blog has a fairly large archive. Sometimes it helps to do is illustrate how screwed up the drawings are that there's really no way to fix it into something even remotely resembling reality. Some of it approaches the original drawings from a primarily anatomical perspective, others explore why things are the way they are. I recall a post (I can't remember what date exactly) that talks about the pressures faced by comic book artists in terms of female character design, where essentially artists are told that it can't sell unless sexualized. I agree that the recent posts aren't as interesting, which isn't something I can do anything about, but I still encourage you to look further back into the archives - I think you'll still find some interesting stuff.
Also, if you are aware of these issues already, it certainly wouldn't be as interesting as it might be otherwise, and while personally it's more entertaining than enlightening to me, I think it's a great perspective to those accustomed to the dominant "style" without realizing what's so screwed up about it.
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United States2095 Posts
LOL thanks for XKCD ROFL. Raptor Math is my favorite so far. Looooooool I wish math questions on tests were related to actual things like escaping from velociraptors!
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lol thanks for the dontevenreply.com.. hilarious...
xkcd is always great. I mostly like his emotional comics since I usually relate to them... The one with the playpen balls (is on the front page) is an all time favorite...
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Took a look at some of those blogs, and got caught up for a bit in Army of Dude. War memoirs have turned into my favorite reading... thanks for sharing it. Informed Comment seems to be a good gem, as well.
I really dislike reading the vast majority of blogs on the internet (aside from TL, weirdly enough). They always seem to have this air of snobby pretentiousness, and I can't fucking stand them. I guess it's because I used to write and act and talk like a lot of these clowns (and maybe still do and I subconsciously hate myself), but the stuffy prose that a lot of these assholes use honestly is one of my biggest pet peeves and will stir some serious primal rage in me.
That said, there are some pretty good ones out there, namely:
SOFREP - If you're interested in military affairs, then I suggest you check out sofrep.com . It caters to the SOF community and current affairs within the community/world, and is one of the very very VERY few websites with accurate information pertaining to SOF. Good minds with unique insights and perspectives contribute with articles and comments.
Study Hacks - This blogger posts some interesting musings about success and learning, and cites articles and research to back some of the things he writes about. The author has a very realistic perspective on the nature of learning and acquiring expertise.
BIGGHOSTCHRONICLES - I don't know if this type of stuff would appeal to a lot of people here, but there hasn't been anything that consistently makes me laugh until I cry from written word since the bloodninja chronicles. This anonymous blogger poses himself as a thug who prides himself on his manhood and dignity and bashes on the biggest (and upcoming) rappers 'in the game' today, with his sights mostly focused on Drake and lately Wiz Khalifa. The blogger's poetic delivery of insults is unmatched. A good primer for this type of stuff to get broken in on this is The Second Annual 10 Softest Niggas in the Game
+ Show Spoiler + (excerpt from this blog, on Drake)
Aka the Ryan Seacrest of rap. Son is the safest nigga on earth. This the type a NAHGGER that old rich white men try to set up wit they daughters n shit. This nigga wasnt born yo....he was blossomed. When he aint startin pillow fights on tour n pollinatin flowers n shit son stays spittin wit that tenderized Stephen Hawking voice. The niggas heart got a ponytail. Son could probably make you any origami animal you ask him to namsayin. He the type a nigga to sprinkle rose pedals on his bed before he go to sleep n shit. Son could probably frost a cake usin his eyes nahmean. This niggas moms n pops basically got Rick Rolled when the doctor said "Its a boy!" But it aint like Tone wanna see the nigga get torn to pieces by a pack a wolves n shit. If I seen him would the god wanna beat the garnier fructis outta him? I dont kno b. Maybe?
Power Seduction War - I used to hop on this pretty often back when Robert Greene regularly updated it, but it's been over 2.5 years since anything new has been posted. Still, lots of good articles worth a read in it.
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I dont really follow that many blogs, but i do frequent a few:
http://thesorrowsofgin.tumblr.com/ Its a picture blog (obviously) that features the good things in life. Just amazing, gets me in a good mode every time
www.sailinganarchy.com Sailing blog that features basically anything regarding sailing.
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All i need is more JWD blogs on Teamliquid.
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I don't follow any in particular. I browse through the blogs occasionally on TL when reading the forums and if the title is intriguing I'll open it up.
I don't read any blogs external to TL.
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To add on to what people have said, I read a lot of the TL blogs, dirkzor aka Konquering Kongregate, Ballons n shit, Doctor's in Chile,Chef's amazingness, and just about a lot of stuff, there are things like dr. MCNINJA, and things like what should we call me?, I enjoy vlogs a lot too, but reading something funny can be great, the best case of that, that I know of is, books of adam. Hopefully these helped, there are some great blogs over at the dreaded LoL community site, especially the ones made by TSM players.
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On the political side (I also lean left) I really like kevin drum's blog and matthew yglesias's blog. A perusing of the archives of both is very helpful, as they sort of assume you're familiar with their posting history. Drum is a classic somewhat centrist democrat, which Yglesias pushes the boundaries of the liberaltarian side of things on state and local policy, while advocating more aggressive federal policies.
Drum: http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum
Yglesias: http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox.html
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Conservative/libertarian Blogs (NA & USA) American Thinker Five Feet of Fury Small Dead Animals Hot Air
General Lifehacker xkcd
Random Continuous Everywhere but Differentiable Nowhere dy/dan f(t)
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Lol, I have always been a big fan of Pearls Before Swine. I'm really glad someone else thinks it's a little odd that the writer of family circus gets over $750,000 a year even though he doesn't even write jokes... they just act cute...
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Hong Kong9136 Posts
I've been reading a lot of Arms Control Wonk lately, focus is international relations specific to nuclear weapons strategy and discourse.
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officially now following waiterrant. good stories + well written
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I read a lot about motley fool blogs on individual investing strategies to keep my creative juices flowing
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My favorite blog to read on TL is MightyAtom's girl blogs are also curiously interesting...
Otherwise I follow/read droid life, the verge, phandroid, engadget, and wired.
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I only read TL's finest: girl-blogs
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On July 31 2012 20:32 Djagulingu wrote: I only read TL's finest: girl-blogs
Don't you read DRG-blogs as well? XD
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Girl blogs mainly, also blogs from writers like the witty SirJolt, the insider Ryo, the teenager Azera, etc. Outside of TL, I check some of the gaming / kpop themed individual blogs on Naver, maybe.
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How do you find the time to read forums, articles, books AND blogs while playing games and watching movies?
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I read Cracked every once in a while, ANN (Anime News Network) occassionally, and I check Team Liquid every day but rarely post.
I spend most of my time on the AV Club. That's probably my favorite site at the moment, and maybe has been for a few years now. Probably the most intelligent set of commenters I have come across on the net. At the very least, they are the most eloquent.
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On July 31 2012 20:43 neoghaleon55 wrote:Don't you read DRG-blogs as well? XD They don't appear as frequent as girlblogs :D
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On August 01 2012 09:07 Kukaracha wrote: How do you find the time to read forums, articles, books AND blogs while playing games and watching movies?
Back in college I had the time to do everything, though sometimes at the expense of social life. Now, I have to pick and choose, and it really depends on my mood. If I'm in the mood to get into something in-depth, then I read books and articles, but when I'm in a more skimming mood, then I read blogs.
Long story short, I don't actually have the time to do everything, and I'm fairly certain that other TLers who are working full-time don't either.
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All the blogs mentioned here are so great! I'll look through them all till it's late.
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The escher girls one is LMAO
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