Down to the wire on white spaces

There's more than one important vote going on this Election Day. On November 4, as Americans cast their ballots for President of the United States, <a href="http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/2008/10/fcc-to-vote-on-opening-up-white-spaces.html">the Federal Communications Commission is scheduled to be voting</a> on rules governing "white spaces" -- the unused airwaves between broadcast TV channels.<br /><br />Just as Wi-Fi sparked a revolution in the way we connect to the web, freeing the "white space" airwaves could help unleash a new wave of technological innovation, create jobs, and boost our economy. But it can happen only if the FCC moves forward with rules that make the best possible use of this spectrum.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibsYp1ti0aO1bFU7Chs8JlQ6NSuBNAfuLwYasFiZpNp_FZ98x9umm8E68V9X1912dkqHGlsGFUQPjdxdnf2J96pZz74N4PyZIPm0XhqYVYp3J8xtgcVUI_KBOIi5z-ihkifCeMX7FSCwmA/s1600-h/ftagraphic.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5260351271258543202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibsYp1ti0aO1bFU7Chs8JlQ6NSuBNAfuLwYasFiZpNp_FZ98x9umm8E68V9X1912dkqHGlsGFUQPjdxdnf2J96pZz74N4PyZIPm0XhqYVYp3J8xtgcVUI_KBOIi5z-ihkifCeMX7FSCwmA/s320/ftagraphic.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 144px; height: 145px;" /></a><br />Last week, after many months of thorough testing, the Commission's engineers announced their conclusion that white spaces devices could operate without interfering with TV broadcasts or wireless microphone signals. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10067331-94.html">pledged his support</a> for opening "white space" spectrum, and announced that the Commission would vote on the issue on November 4.<br /><br />Unfortunately, last Friday the broadcasting lobby filed an emergency request to stop the vote from happening. This comes despite more than four years of study, months of extensive lab and field testing by the FCC, and tens of thousands of pages of formal record material -- during which the broadcasters' concerns were fully considered. As we understand it, the draft order carefully and appropriately addresses all legitimate concerns about interference, and the resulting draft rules are, if anything, overly conservative. Nonetheless, the proposed framework overall appears to be sound, and we strongly support it.<br /><br />While the science should speak for itself, that won't stop the broadcasting lobby from trying to use stalling tactics to derail the technology before the rules of the road are even written. These are the same folks who <a href="http://www.wirelessinnovationalliance.org/index.cfm?objectid=14E85980-1D09-317F-BBE452B41A89ECBB">over the years</a> have sought to block one innovative technology after another, from cable TV to VCRs to satellite TV and radio to low power FM to TiVOs.<br /><br />The enormous promise of white spaces is simply too great to get bogged down now in politics. We're less than two weeks away from a vote that could transform the way we connect to the Internet.<br /><br />The time for study and talk is over. The time for action has arrived. But we need your help -- before November 4th.<br /><br />Two months ago we launched "Free the Airwaves" with a simple message: Americans want better access to broadband, and they see the potential of white spaces to make it happen. If you care about the future of technological innovation, please sign our petition to the FCC at <a href="http://www.freetheairwaves.com/takeAction.html">FreeTheAirwaves.com</a>, and ask your friends to do the same.<br /><br /><span class="byline-author">Posted by Richard Whitt, Washington Telecom and Media Counsel</span>

Down to the wire on white spaces

There's more than one important vote going on this Election Day. On November 4, as Americans cast their ballots for President of the United States, the Federal Communications Commission is scheduled …

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Google Sites now in 38 languages

In May we <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/google-sites-now-open-to-everyone.html">opened up Google Sites</a>, and while the service itself was only in English, it has always supported the ability to add website content in any language. It's been really exciting to see more than one million sites created in a wide range of countries and languages, for everything from an <a href="http://www.accademiaimpro.com/">Italian improv theater group</a> to a <a href="http://sites.google.com/a/huitzuco.com/index/videos">Spanish guide to Huitzuco </a>to a <a href="http://sites.google.com/a/tandacomp.com/main/home/">Japanese computer store</a>. With the addition of 37 more languages, it is now even easier for people and businesses around the world to build and host their own website on Google Sites.<br /><br />The latest release includes full localized versions of the Google Sites service and interface, enabling website creators and collaborators to interact more naturally with the product in their native languages. Browser settings are used to automatically detect and display the preferred language among those supported. You can also override the browser language and set your language preference directly in Google Sites.<br /><br />Here are the 38 languages we are supporting with this release: Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, English (UK), Filipino, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese.<br /><br />Read more on the <a href="http://googlesitesblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/sites-goes-international.html">Google Sites blog</a>.<br /><br /><span class="byline-author">Posted by Tim Mansfield, Software Engineer</span>

Google Sites now in 38 languages

In May we opened up Google Sites, and while the service itself was only in English, it has always supported the ability to add website content in any language. It's been really exciting to see more th…

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What do students want to tell the next president?

Two weeks ago, I spent a day with Dr. Ellen Shelton and her 11th grade Advanced Placement English students at Tupelo High School in Tupelo, Mississippi. Ellen's students are participating in <span style="font-style: italic;">Letters to the Next President: Writing Our Future</span>, an online writing and publishing project sponsored by Google and the <a href="http://www.nwp.org/">National Writing Project</a>.<br /><br />During the U.S. presidential campaign season, thousands of middle and high school students (ages 13-18) are writing persuasive letters and essays to the presidential candidates about the issues and concerns that they'd like the next president to address. Teachers are using Google Docs to incorporate online editing, peer review, and revisions, and students are publishing their letters online for their peers, parents, and the public to read.<br /><br />At Tupelo High, Ellen's students told me that they were writing about issues such as <a href="http://www.letters2president.org/issues/health%20care">health care</a>, <a href="http://www.letters2president.org/issues/Education">education</a>, <a href="http://www.letters2president.org/issues/economy">the economy</a>, and <a href="http://www.letters2president.org/issues/gas%20prices">the price of gas</a>. I was impressed not only by the variety of issues they were covering, but also by how they were able to describe how these issues affect their lives as well as their family and friends. Although most of Ellen's students will be too young to vote on Nov. 4, it is heartening to know that they were making a difference by voicing their thoughts through their writing.<br /><br />So far, 962 students from 46 schools have published letters on our <a href="http://www.letters2president.org/">project website</a>, and during the next few weeks, there will be thousands more. You can also find out what issues matter to <a href="http://www.letters2president.org/classes/1648-ellen-shelton">Ellen's students</a> and students from other parts of the U.S.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnIFUq5CY2i-8BXpKosa3xDV8ViKp-8iSfhFrnXXp7o9DRudn0Z8oX7xpLvtxV_RZi_kQgNxGrnHUwNht8829Wp4azOs7XC3nQf3GO_cRRJ4wcJMyBvK1tkhYUovvtHwp-8OtUirbkjyjH/s1600-h/google+shelton+039.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5260079090671975186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnIFUq5CY2i-8BXpKosa3xDV8ViKp-8iSfhFrnXXp7o9DRudn0Z8oX7xpLvtxV_RZi_kQgNxGrnHUwNht8829Wp4azOs7XC3nQf3GO_cRRJ4wcJMyBvK1tkhYUovvtHwp-8OtUirbkjyjH/s400/google+shelton+039.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />Photo credit: Will White, Tupelo Hi-Times</span><br /><br /><span class="byline-author">Posted by Andrew Chang, Google Docs Marketing Manager</span>

What do students want to tell the next president?

Two weeks ago, I spent a day with Dr. Ellen Shelton and her 11th grade Advanced Placement English students at Tupelo High School in Tupelo, Mississippi. Ellen's students are participating in Letters t…

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Greater access to voting information

At Google, we pride ourselves on helping people find things on the Internet. And every four years in America, <a href="http://www.google.com/trends?q=where+to+vote%2C+register+to+vote&ctab=0&geo=US&geor=all&date=all&sort=0">Google Trends</a> shows that people are searching to find voting information, like how to register and where to vote.<br /><br />It's hard to believe that in 2008, information so important to U.S. citizens and the democratic process isn't well organized on the web. To solve this problem, we've released our <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/mpl?moduleurl=http://maps.google.com/mapfiles/mapplets/elections/2008/us-voter-info/us-voter-info.xml">US Voter Info site</a>, an effort to simplify and centralize voting locations and registration information.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlDvixn5_6AlwyDhP_r1qQvMqt2AN0J6zc168iJ06aaN9kVxhfipFBgpyJLzhpfdkEOMHAotSzUWWq9y6KBARtIAXkEYLjUp5uBOxDJm3wZwYFR44LKa8paNIYd318LDrTUfiwdCvg_hVs/s1600-h/Picture+1.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5259763315481558002" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlDvixn5_6AlwyDhP_r1qQvMqt2AN0J6zc168iJ06aaN9kVxhfipFBgpyJLzhpfdkEOMHAotSzUWWq9y6KBARtIAXkEYLjUp5uBOxDJm3wZwYFR44LKa8paNIYd318LDrTUfiwdCvg_hVs/s320/Picture+1.png" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" /></a><br />We developed the site in the hope that it will increase voter participation. We were helped by a number of partners, including many state and local election officials, the <a href="http://www.lwv.org/Election2008/index.html">League of Women Voters</a>, the <a href="http://www.pewtrusts.org/">Pew Charitable Trusts</a>, and others involved in the <a href="http://votinginformationproject.org/">Voting Information Project</a>.<br /><br />Are you registered to vote? What's the best way to obtain an absentee ballot? When people visit the site, answers to these questions appear. And anyone with a website can provide the same information. The <a href="http://www.gmodules.com/ig/creator?synd=open&url=http://election-maps-2008.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/poll411-gadget.xml">US Voter Info gadget</a> places a simple search box that expands to show a full set of voter information when someone enters an address.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKcvRbywFfBbWIOhOrh9mzDWl-cv30A8-rdFJ969p7SxTR9AvXuFqGUpCKl8ZhxqVZbFlGmoNuHLSAtPxZzAoziSXae_XZ8vpp_zo7S8a4ffEOTnPelBISO6jiRP6N-4nn7bXMJUzVbORA/s1600-h/Picture+26.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5259347117131769698" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKcvRbywFfBbWIOhOrh9mzDWl-cv30A8-rdFJ969p7SxTR9AvXuFqGUpCKl8ZhxqVZbFlGmoNuHLSAtPxZzAoziSXae_XZ8vpp_zo7S8a4ffEOTnPelBISO6jiRP6N-4nn7bXMJUzVbORA/s400/Picture+26.png" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" /></a><br />We are also offering a simpler way to find out <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/mpl?moduleurl=http://maps.google.com/mapfiles/mapplets/elections/2008/us-voter-info/us-voter-info.xml">where to vote</a>. By entering a home address, citizens across the country will be able to find their polling place for election day.<br /><br />To encourage political participation, we've opened up this data to third-party sites and developers through an API developed by Dan Berlin, one of our open-source engineers. We're excited to share this data, and hope that others will find it useful in encouraging citizens to vote.<br /><br />Organizing information is our mission. We do that every day with web content, and we want to do the same thing with information to inform and empower voters and to help them get to the polls this election season.<br /><br /><span class="byline-author">Posted by JL Needham, Public Sector Content Partnerships, and Abe Murray, Product Manager</span>

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Greater access to voting information

At Google, we pride ourselves on helping people find things on the Internet. And every four years in America, Google Trends shows that people are searching to find voting information, like how to regi…

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Google Treasure Hunt winners abound

The time has come to announce the conclusion of the <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/google-treasure-hunt-update.html">2008 Google Treasure Hunt</a> competition. More than 100,000 people worldwide tackled the puzzles we designed, and we received correct answers from more than 30 countries and five different continents.<br /><br />Congratulations to our grand prize winner, Sophia Dichomides, whose speed and skill won her a MacBook Air. And we'd also like to extend a hearty congratulations to all of the other master treasure hunters who braved the high seas and shifting time zones to solve all four puzzles the fastest, as well as to the hundreds of winners who received Google Treasure Hunt T-shirts. Thanks to everyone who participated. Be sure to keep your spyglass on the horizon for future contests.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Grand Prize (MacBook Air winner)</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><ul><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Sophia Dichomides (Australia)</span></li></ul><span style="font-weight: bold;">First Mates (iPod Touch winners)</span><br /><ul><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Alok Ladsariya (India)</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">David Bidorff (France)</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Vincent Zanotti (France)</span></li></ul><span style="font-weight: bold;">Second Mates (iPod Nano winners)</span><br /><ul><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Alex North (Australia)</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Alicja Krajnik (Poland)</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Artur Makutunowicz (Poland)</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Benoit Boissinot (France)</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">David Poblador (Spain)</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Dmitry Kim (Russia)</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Graham Dennis (Australia)</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Gregorio Guidi (Italy)</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Jared Brothers (USA)</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Jérémy Selier (France)</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Kartikaya Gupta (Canada)</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Lucas Bergman (USA)</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Manuel Freire (Spain)</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Mariano Faraco (Argentina)</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Matthew Imhoff (Australia)</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Nathan Kitchen (USA)</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Nelson Castillo (Colombia)</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Paul Cowan (Australia)</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Perry Lorier (New Zealand)</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Qiang Fu (Australia)</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Tanaeem Moosa (Bangladesh)</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Xuân Baldauf (Germany)</span><br /></li></ul><span class="byline-author">Posted by Phillip Grasso, Manager, Engineering/Operations</span>

Google Treasure Hunt winners abound

The time has come to announce the conclusion of the 2008 Google Treasure Hunt competition. More than 100,000 people worldwide tackled the puzzles we designed, and we received correct answers from more…

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Is your house haunted by high energy prices?

Halloween is nearly upon us; the days are getting shorter and Google is gearing up for one of our favorite holidays. But as the temperature drops, the price you pay each month to power your home might start to make your blood run cold. Fear not! We've created a handy <a href="http://www.google.com/hauntedhouse08/index.html">energy saving calculator</a> to help you see how simple steps can help you save money for treats -- and ward off scary carbon emissions. We've also put together a <a href="http://www.google.com/hauntedhouse08/tips.html">webpage full of tricks</a> to help you save energy -- and money. (For inspiration for this idea, we want to thank the U.S. Department of Energy.)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZYtf-kxKQOX-nQt0pjkGeQzE6NPrsqlqvT2IG2XEmxKi5nblAtAWPiCYiq6qTJnwBG1Ia2I2KE94OcXyrWN1RFP9wE4K6NK4sDM81NdXmH01BkIxhHDXfuCaNEXpGUrnF3fuEP1UgdxW8/s1600-h/treepumpkin.gif"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5259640287363844722" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZYtf-kxKQOX-nQt0pjkGeQzE6NPrsqlqvT2IG2XEmxKi5nblAtAWPiCYiq6qTJnwBG1Ia2I2KE94OcXyrWN1RFP9wE4K6NK4sDM81NdXmH01BkIxhHDXfuCaNEXpGUrnF3fuEP1UgdxW8/s320/treepumpkin.gif" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" /></a>It's the perfect time of year to talk about efficiency since many of the energy-wasters in our homes are named after the ghouls of Halloween. Our living rooms may be infested with "vampire" electronics that suck power even when turned off. And open chimney flues let the "ghosts" of winter steal our heat (not to mention the "monster" furnace that lives in the basement). By taking small steps to ward off these ghouls of inefficiency, you can save cold, hard cash. By <a href="http://hearth.com/econtent/index.php/wiki/Seal_Fireplace_Damper/">one estimate</a>, if the 80% of Americans who leave their fireplace flue open all winter all simply closed the damper, we could save over $6 billion a year. That's a lot of candy corn!<br /><br /><span class="byline-author">Posted by David Bercovich, Project Manager, and Dan Reicher, Director Climate Change & Energy Initiatives, Google.org</span>

Is your house haunted by high energy prices?

Halloween is nearly upon us; the days are getting shorter and Google is gearing up for one of our favorite holidays. But as the temperature drops, the price you pay each month to power your home might…

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A Googlicious time

For a lot of us who work here, there's one thing that defines the culture more than anything else: the food. We have a passion for every edible item offered, from the ubiquitous organic fruit to the rotisserie leg of lamb with smoked shallot marmalade, mahi-mahi with coconut milk & lime in banana leaf, or the oysters with cilantro mignonette (and yes, the meals are free). But we're also accustomed to having our amazing culinary team do the work while we try to deploy our ingenuity in front of computers (and in devising new ways to work off the extra weight).<br /><br />So last week some Googlers decided to see if the creativity that they bring to their jobs could be applied to other arenas. Charlie's Patio on our Mountain View campus was the site of the first-ever Google (Free) Bake Sale. More than 30 teams used the cafe kitchens and worked with our chefs to create delectables in five categories: cookies, cupcakes, confections, dessert bars, and pies. Everyone who stopped by was given 5 marbles to vote for their favorites.<br /><br />What did we discover? Most Googlers prefer <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/googgman/GoogleFreeBakeSale2008#5257918691310136594" target="_blank">a hands-on approach</a> to their endeavors. Some put their efforts into looking the part, whether that meant dressing as <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/googgman/GoogleFreeBakeSale2008#5257918552167987842" target="_blank">the bakers</a> or as <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/googgman/GoogleFreeBakeSale2008#5257918934641030818" target="_blank">the food</a>, while others chose to focus on the <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/googgman/GoogleFreeBakeSale2008#5257920795711410610" target="_blank">presentation</a> of their creation. Pastry designs ran the gamut from <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/googgman/GoogleFreeBakeSale2008#5257920079594422658" target="_blank">the elemental</a> to the <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/googgman/GoogleFreeBakeSale2008#5257921190092036066" target="_blank">slightly fishy</a>, from the <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/googgman/GoogleFreeBakeSale2008#5257920169347105410" target="_blank">basic</a> to the <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/googgman/GoogleFreeBakeSale2008#5257920993257595570" target="_blank">elaborate</a>. It can never be said that Googlers don't eat our own <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/googgman/GoogleFreeBakeSale2008#5257919813714378322" target="_blank">dogfood</a>. At the very least, the people who attended the event left with a smile on their faces and enough ingested sugar to turn their blood to cola.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhftr6QB6IniM6C79q6tr-ZmQazq7aQJtFbn4ziKYVeofn_5j85_J5fedXxUnLwNSGoo8qPh3qHPmBmiIWpvzF8ocJUe5imA-GxXYhP5h3qdfXE7PAo_oWFZiRRP6OqkSuLTM-WFPOfuzBL/s1600-h/desserts_googlicious.gif"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5258953975367941090" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhftr6QB6IniM6C79q6tr-ZmQazq7aQJtFbn4ziKYVeofn_5j85_J5fedXxUnLwNSGoo8qPh3qHPmBmiIWpvzF8ocJUe5imA-GxXYhP5h3qdfXE7PAo_oWFZiRRP6OqkSuLTM-WFPOfuzBL/s320/desserts_googlicious.gif" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" /></a>More importantly we learned that, even in a skittish economy, it's possible to find ways to keep morale high -- and nothing does it as well as chocolate. With a little creativity, some motivation, and a culture that embraces fun (and food!) as a necessary component of our work, inspiration will flow, and spirits (and blood-sugar levels) will run high. One proof point: <span><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/googgman/GoogleFreeBakeSale2008#5257920741789306178" target="_blank">Recession-Proof Brownies</a></span>.<br /><br /><span class="byline-author">Posted by Ben Bayer, Master of Space and Time, Google Research</span>

A Googlicious time

For a lot of us who work here, there's one thing that defines the culture more than anything else: the food. We have a passion for every edible item offered, from the ubiquitous organic fruit to the …

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