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<title>Haaze.com / ArjunSahker / All</title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com</link>
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<pubDate>Fri, 15 Apr 2011 07:10:16 +0000</pubDate>
<language>en</language>
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<title><![CDATA[The skinny on Final Cut Pro X (FAQ)]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=the-skinny-on-final-cut-pro-x-faq</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=the-skinny-on-final-cut-pro-x-faq</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 15 Apr 2011 07:10:16 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>ArjunSahker</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=the-skinny-on-final-cut-pro-x-faq</guid>
<description><![CDATA[(Credit:Apple)Apple this week unveiled the next major version of Final Cut Pro, the company's video-editing software that plays big brother to the more ubiquitousMac pack-in iMovie. The software, which arrives in June, comes off a two-year update hiatus and is a bold step for Apple. It does away with boxes and discs, instead being delivered as a direct download. It also comes in at $700 less than the current version, which is available as part of Apple's pro video-editing suite.Such a cut raises some questions though, like &quot;what's missing&quot; and &quot;is this a downgrade for current Final Cut Studio users&quot; CNET is here to give you the answers with an FAQ.What's newFinal Cut Pro X has a laundry list of new features and tweaks, but the really important thing is that the application is now 64-bit, meaning it can address more RAM. The application also makes use of some of the new low-level system features in OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard like Core Animation, OpenCL, and Grand Central Dispatch, which lets the software run on as many processing cores and as much of the graphical processing unit as it can get. As a result, Apple says the software has effectively done away with rendering times, giving editors a way to view changes they've made to content instantaneously. This is managed with a new background-rendering feature that does the work behind the scenes each time a change is made.Final Cut's interface has also been completely reworked, which Apple says puts the focus on the three areas video editors tend to need while making cuts: a preview area, a new media browser, and an editing timeline that's been given an overhaul. Two of those areas: the media library tool and the timeline are where many of the most drastic changes can be found. The media library tool, which is where clips are organized has been redesigned to do some of the heavy lifting with footage. This is something pros have told CNET they thought could be improved from older versions of the software, and it's something Apple has addressed in Final Cut Pro X. The new library lets editors begin edits on media that's being imported, before it's fully transferred. And as footage is being imported, it can analyze shots to help editors sort them out, including tools that can tell what type of shot it is (close, medium, wide), and if there are people in it. It can also run color management and stabilize video if it's shaky. To add to this, footage that's been imported can be organized with range-based keywording, which lets users apply tags to specific, or entire clips to search and pull out later. On the timeline side, Apple has tweaked the connection between audio and video tracks with something it's calling &quot;Clip Connections.&quot; This binds secondary audio tracks to the primary audio tracks that are attached to footage. This way, if it's dragged to another part of the timeline, it won't lose the secondary audio that was added after the fact. Joining that is a feature Apple calls &quot;Magnetic Timeline&quot; which makes sure that these connected items that are dragged around on the timeline do not collide with one another. To make specific clusters of edits less unwieldy, Apple has added a timeline feature called &quot;Compound Clip&quot; that can group together audio, video, transitions, and titles into single clips. These can be treated just like a finished clip, but de-clutter the timeline. And because it's non-destructive, editors can go in and make changes to something in this cluster any time they want, then re-compound it to save space. Other changes made to the edit side include an inline precision editor, which lets users adjust where cuts have been made on clips, right on the timeline. This has been set up so if you realize you want an extra second or two from a clip, you don't have to go back and re-find it from your library, cut out one that's slightly longer, and switch it out. You can just dip into that source clip from the timeline, extend it and be done. Another edit feature, called &quot;Auditions&quot; lets users do A-B testing on two variations of an edit to see what each one would look like, without having to redo the work to re-create it. In its presentation, Apple said these were just a few of the new features that are part of the new software, with more to be unveiled closer to its release in June. What's it look like compared with the current Final Cut ProHere's Final Cut Pro 7:(Credit:Apple)And Final Cut Pro X:(Credit:Apple )OK, those are neat pictures, but this is a video application, I want to see it in action. Is there a video somewhereThere is. As spotted by MacRumors, pro film group Les Machineurs was there and filmed Apple's presentation. It's split up into two parts with a small break in between. What's missing is the initial part of the presentation where Apple spells out some of its customer satisfaction metrics and that it's got more than 2 million licensed Final Cut Pro users.If you're looking for the hands-on demos with the software, skip to part two, which has Apple's chief architect of video applications, Randy Ubillos going over some of the new features.Part one: Part two: (Credit:Apple)How does this compare with Final Cut StudioThe big difference here is that this is one application, versus Final Cut Studio's six. That suite includes Final Cut Pro along with Motion, Compressor, DVD Studio Pro, Soundtrack Pro and Color.That said, there are features you'd find in Soundtrack Pro and Color that have been built into Final Cut Pro X. But that may not be enough for pros, who were using the authoring tools in DVD Studio Pro to make salable products with their work, or movie makers using Motion to do composite work. So does that mean those applications aren't making the jump to be a part of the Final Cut Pro X universe Following the presentation an Apple representative told The Loop that &quot;today was just a sneak peak of Final Cut Pro,&quot; and to &quot;stay tuned.&quot; How does this compare with iMovieFinal Cut Pro X is a much more advanced piece of editing software with many more bells and whistles than iMovie. That said, several features that started out in iMovie have made their way over to Final Cut Pro X, such as skimming previews for clips, identification for types of shots and if people are in them, as well as some of the visual aesthetics. The bottom line is that if you're an iMovie user who wants a little more, Apple is going for the same up-sell as it's had with Final Cut Express. The big difference is that this is now being positioned as its top of the line editor at about $100 premium of what Express costs. What does this mean for Final Cut ExpressApple has stayed mum on if Final Cut Express has been shelved. However comments made about the $199, middle-of-the-road between iMovie and Final Cut Studio at the end of Apple's presentation strongly suggest it's being replaced by the lower-priced Final Cut Pro X once the software is released. From Apple's Richard Townhill, who is the director of pro video product marketing:&quot;Lastly perhaps, we've had a couple of different flavors. We've had upgrade pricing, we've had Final Cut Express, we've had Final Cut Studio. So we decided we really wanted to do away with that. We wanted to greatly simplify the pricing structure and make it very easy for you if you decided that you wanted to get a copy of Final Cut Pro. So we've decided to make it available for the amazing price of $299.&quot;With that said, Final Cut Express and Final Cut Pro 6 (which pre-dated the current version of Final Cut Pro) remain two of the the last versions in the Final Cut family that can run on PowerPC hardware, providing those with older computers a way to edit using Final Cut. I already have Final Cut Pro, do I still have to pay $299Yes. Unlike past versions where a new version means previous users can pay a smaller amount with an upgrade price, everyone pays $299 for Final Cut Pro X.One thing to keep in mind is that the previous upgrade price for Final Cut Studio upgrades was also $299, so its no more than it used to be. It can be argued that users are getting less included if Apple does not ship it with a comparable feature set with what some of the other studio tools can do.(Credit:Apple)Can I buy this in storesNo, Apple has only said that it's offering Final Cut Pro X as a paid download through its Mac App Store. On the plus side that means there are no more worries about punching in serial numbers or losing physical media since it can be re-downloaded. Can my computer run thisApple has not released hardware requirements, but it's making use of many OS X 10.6 specific features that will require Snow Leopard, specifically Grand Central Dispatch. The current version of Final Cut Pro requires that users are running Mac OS X version 10.5.6 or later.What's up with the nameSimilar to Mac OS X, the X is a Roman numeral, meaning it's said like &quot;Final Cut Pro ten.&quot; But don't be confused, this isn't actually the 10th iteration of the software. The last version of the software was version 7, technically making this version 8. Version 8 and 9 didn't disappear per se. Apple just seems to have followed a similar naming convention to what it did in making the jump from QuickTime 7 to QuickTime X in Leopard to Snow Leopard. Apple also has a history of doing this with its iLife apps, so it's odd, but not unusual.Any other questions Send them our way and we'll try to get them answered for you.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Watch ESPN programming on iOS-based devices]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=watch-espn-programming-on-ios-based-devices</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=watch-espn-programming-on-ios-based-devices</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 07 Apr 2011 07:10:09 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>ArjunSahker</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=watch-espn-programming-on-ios-based-devices</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ESPN has launched a new app for iOS-based devices.(Credit:ESPN)ESPN is ensuring its viewers don't miss a single minute of the game.The network announced today that it has launched a new application in Apple's App Store, called WatchESPN. After downloading the free app, users can watch live programming from ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, and ESPN3.com 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The network was quick to point out that the app is available toiPhone,iPad, andiPod Touch customers in time for major sporting events, including the &quot;early rounds of the Masters, the NBA Playoffs, and the beginning of the Major League Baseball season.&quot; However, there is a catch. In order to access ESPN content from an iOS-based device, the person must be a Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks, or Verizon FiOS TV subscriber who pays for ESPN channels. After downloading the app, users must input &quot;cable subscriber credentials&quot; in order to prove they are a customer of one of those companies, ESPN said. The network also noted that the app, which was actually made available in the App Store yesterday, isn't yet &quot;optimized&quot; for the iPad. It plans to start taking full advantage of Apple's tablet in May. The addition of WatchESPN to the App Store could be a boon for sports fans--or at least the ones with iOS devices. Aside from Dish's iPad app, which lets folks watch live programming with the help of the Sling adapter, ESPN content has only been available on Time Warner Cable's recently launched TWCable TV app. That app only offers access to ESPNews. ESPN said that it plans to make its app available to other platforms, including Android, &quot;in the near future.&quot; <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Wrap-a-Nap turns your head into a pillow]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=wrap-a-nap-turns-your-head-into-a-pillow</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=wrap-a-nap-turns-your-head-into-a-pillow</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 01 Feb 2011 08:10:45 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>ArjunSahker</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=wrap-a-nap-turns-your-head-into-a-pillow</guid>
<description><![CDATA[I wish I were doing this right now.(Credit:Wrap-a-Nap)When it comes to nap time, I usually just go the Quaalude route, but some people don't have the same friendly doctor I have. So I would like the rest of you to meet the Wrap-a-Nap, or WAN for short. It's a combination blindfold/pillow/earmuffs that you wrap around your head to seal out the world around and have a soft place to rest your melon.It's funny-looking but honestly a great idea from the &quot;why didn't I think of this&quot; department. While I normally can find a decent place to nap, that's not always the case. I could see myself needing one of these for air travel, provided I found myself with a window seat and not sitting between an arguing couple from Russia like last flight.The thing comes in fleece in a variety of colors with awesome names like Bear, The Executive, and Poseidon. Those would also be great names for mustaches. Mine's called Smokey.And it's only $15 (plus $4 shipping in the U.S.). That puts the Wrap-a-Nap at a pretty decent price point for a half-gag gift. If anyone wants my shipping address, let me know.The adjustable Velcro fastener means it'll fit even the largest heads, like mine.(Credit:Wrap-a-Nap)(Via Gizmodo)<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Microsoft joins coalition against Google's ITA buy]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-joins-coalition-against-googles-ita-buy</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-joins-coalition-against-googles-ita-buy</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 13 Dec 2010 08:10:19 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>ArjunSahker</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-joins-coalition-against-googles-ita-buy</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Microsoft this morning became one of the newest members of the FairSearch.org Coalition, a group of companies and technology partners seeking to &quot;support competition, transparency, and innovation in online search.&quot; In the short term, the group's big target is Google and its intended $700 million acquisition of online travel firm ITA Software.The topic is especially relevant for Microsoft due to its use of ITA's technology in its Bing travel site (formerly Farecast). It makes use of ITA's algorithms as part of its recommendation system, which tells users when it's the right time to buy tickets. Microsoft acquired the site back in 2008, before later rolling the technology into MSN Travel, then Bing.com.Microsoft is joined by U.K.-based search engine Foundem, and online travel agencies Zuji and Level...com out of Singapore and France, respectively. Others already a part of FairSearch.org include Sabre Holdings, Expedia, Kayak, and Farelogix.As part of the ITA acquisition, Google has promised to honor existing agreements, which would include any with Microsoft and many of the other companies. However, FairSearch.org is arguing that the buy will still stifle innovation and push ticket prices up across the board.&quot;Acquiring ITA Software would give Google control over the software that powers most of its closest rivals in travel search and could enable Google to manipulate and dominate the online air travel marketplace,&quot; the group said in a statement (PDF). &quot;The end result could be higher travel prices, fewer travel choices for consumers and businesses, and less innovation in online travel search.&quot;Google has refuted such claims on a special site that breaks down the company's intentions. However, the acquisition remains the focus of a Department of Justice review, which is looking into how the deal will affect Google's already-powerful place in the search market. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Oprah anoints iPad her favorite thing ever]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=oprah-anoints-ipad-her-favorite-thing-ever</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=oprah-anoints-ipad-her-favorite-thing-ever</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 22 Nov 2010 08:10:20 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>ArjunSahker</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=oprah-anoints-ipad-her-favorite-thing-ever</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Her favorite thing EVER Really(Credit:Oprah.com)Away with your protestations of sorcery and revolution.No one truly believed theiPad wasn't a mere iFad until Oprah stood up and declared that Apple's creation is better than gold, sparkly Ugg Boots. Not only that, she went on to exclaim that it was better than the equally shiny Madison Patent Sophia Satchel from Coach. Which retails at a mere $398 and which, to my eyes, is something of a disappointment in that ivoryish/grayish color. Although it is quite fetching in red.You might feel as if an electrical storm has queered my receptors. But, no. On Monday, Oprah aired her final Favorite Things Ever show and declared the iPad the greatest invention of the century so far. And truly, her favorite thing ever.Certainly, she challenged Apple to beat it in the next 90 years. But her audience members, who were all gifted an iPad, as well as the slightly more disappointing Sparkly Ugg boots, shiny Sophia satchel, and Volkswagen Beetle, shrieked at the mere sight of an iPad being lowered from the ceiling, with angel wings at its side.The implication was that the iPad is, indeed, being harked by the heralds of heaven. &quot;Behoooolllllddd!!,&quot; Oprah offered, as her audience quaked. Then she revealed the marvels of being able to play EA's Scrabble game on her iPad. She claimed she could get two games in during one exercise. You don't believe her What dubious Thomases you are. For the show immediately cut to Oprah in her gym, her glasses perched on her nose, her iPad perched on her treadmill.The other day, she would have you know, she beat the computer with a score of 384.There is endorsement. And then there is benediction by Oprah. True, it doesn't always work. She did once give away a lot of Pontiacs. But if you ever doubted that the iPad has entered the world's very soul in a slightly more emotional way than have many other mere things that sparkle and shine, please avail yourself of a video of Monday's show. You may never look at the world the same way again.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Cellular South to launch Samsung smartphones on future 4G LTE network]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=cellular-south-to-launch-samsung-smartphones-on-future-4g-lte-network</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=cellular-south-to-launch-samsung-smartphones-on-future-4g-lte-network</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 17 Nov 2010 08:10:20 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>ArjunSahker</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=cellular-south-to-launch-samsung-smartphones-on-future-4g-lte-network</guid>
<description><![CDATA[LTE received another teammate in the tug-of-war between WiMax and 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) technology yesterday when Cellular South announced its intentions today to build out a 4G mobile broadband network.The regional carrier has declared that it will build out its spectrum in the lower 700 MHz band, but not anytime soon, unlike Verizon. Cellular South has the calendar circled for the fourth quarter of 2011.In addition to sharing its 4G ambitions, Cellular South has also unveiled Samsung as its launch partner. The two companies penned a deal yesterday that will bring two Samsung smartphones to Cellular South in time for the carrier's LTE launch.Neither Samsung nor Cellular South is sharing further details about the smartphones, the spectrum, or the terms of the deal. What we can infer is that the regional operator has no intention to let the &quot;4G revolution&quot; pass them by.MetroPCS became the first of the second-tier carriers to offer LTE speeds when it introduced the Samsung Craft in Las Vegas and Dallas earlier this year.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[In defense of the basic phone]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=in-defense-of-the-basic-phone</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=in-defense-of-the-basic-phone</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 12 Nov 2010 08:10:17 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>ArjunSahker</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=in-defense-of-the-basic-phone</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The M360 may not be exciting, but it works.(Credit:Josh Miller/CNET)Soon after I posted the news of Sprint's new Samsung M360 last week, I received a few e-mails from CNET readers wondering why such a simple phone was worthy of our attention. As reader sdf0013 put it in the comments section of the blog, the M360 news was &quot;out of place for the usually tech-savvy CNET crowd.&quot;Though I answered sdf0013's comment at the time, other readers offered similar comments after we reviewed the M360 on Wednesday. So I wanted to take this opportunity to address their concerns and defend the M360's merits.CNET's mission to our readers has always been to review every cell phone offered by the major U.S. wireless carriers. From the fanciest models to the most basic devices, we show no prejudice toward what we'll take the time to analyze. Of course, high-end smartphones and flashy messaging devices will get priority, but eventually we'll cover the entire handset lineups for T-Mobile, AT&amp;amp'T, Verizon Wireless, and Sprint. And don't worry if you're with a smaller carrier like MetroPCS or U.S. Cellular, as your phones will get our attention as well.I speak for all members of the cell phone reviews team--Bonnie, Nicole, Jessica, and myself--when I say that we value all our readers. We recognize that many of you are focused on the latest and greatest, but quite a few CNET readers also just want a device for making calls. Indeed, for every letter I received questioning why we'd bother to review the no-frills M360, I received another asking for our opinion on Sprint's newest phone.The pace of innovation in the cell phone world is supersonic, but even as smartphones explode in number, the basic phone hasn't been put to pasture. And there's no reason that it should. At least for the next few years, there will be a need for a straightforward, easy-to-use device that's built for communication and won't break the bank. Manufacturers may throw in a camera and a couple of other goodies, but not everyone needs a Web browser, a music player, and an avalanche of apps.Technology does not have to be complicated or powerful to be successful. A phone may not be exciting, but we need something to balance out the overhyped handsets. And if that phone does its job well--as the M360 surely did--then all the better. But at the end of the day, no matter how a basic phone performs, CNET will put it through its paces.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Firefox 4 gets much, much faster]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=firefox-4-gets-much-much-faster</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=firefox-4-gets-much-much-faster</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 10 Nov 2010 08:10:04 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>ArjunSahker</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=firefox-4-gets-much-much-faster</guid>
<description><![CDATA[One of the major components essential for the future ofFirefox just landed in the beta build of the browser, and it gives the open-source browser the page-rendering speed boost that it had been lacking.Available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, Firefox 4 beta 7 introduces JagerMonkey, Mozilla's next-generation JavaScript engine that puts the browser in the same ballpark as its high-speed competitors. The old TraceMonkey engine was slow enough to no longer be in the same league as Chrome, Opera,Safari, and the Internet Explorer 9 beta.Mozilla&amp;39's internal benchmarks show significant JavaScript rendering improvements for Firefox 4 beta 7&amp;39's new JagerMonkey engine.(Credit:Mozilla, Inc.)Mozilla describes the improvements as incorporating the JagerMonkey JIT compiler into the new SpiderMonkey engine, and says that users can expect to see significantly faster start-up times, page-load speed, and JavaScript-intensive Web tasks such as running apps and playing games. The company's internal benchmarking shows Firefox 4 is three times faster than the current Firefox 3.6.12 on both Kraken and Sunspider JavaScript benchmarks, and five times faster than Firefox 3.6.12 on the V8 benchmark. Engineer David Mandelin stated in a blog post that Firefox 4 will be &quot;a little bit faster&quot; by the time it's finished.Although speed is definitely a major part of a successful modern browser, there's more that's changed in the latest Firefox 4 beta besides JavaScript rendering. Firefox was one of the first browsers to incorporate hardware acceleration, and Firefox 4 beta 7 can use your computer's graphics card to load pages faster if the card is supported. The new beta will work on Windows XP, something most other hardware accelerated browsers can't do, and it will work on Macs. TheMac version is powered by OpenGL, while DirectX fuels the Windows version.Fonts received a boost in this beta, as Firefox 4 now supports the OpenType font format. This will allow designers to control kerning, ligatures, cap variants, and alternative characters. Graphics rendering for developers also got some attention, with the addition of support for 3D graphics rendering via WebGL. Running it currently requires an OpenGL-enabled graphics card, with support planned for other cards in the future.Panorama now has a tutorial video, a dedicated search button instead of a search field, and a button to quickly jump back to where you were.(Credit:Screenshot by Seth Rosenblatt/CNET)There's also a nifty about:config tweak that comes in Firefox 4 beta 7. Instead of installing the Bar Tab add-on to better manage Firefox's open session memory, advanced users can go to about:config and set browser.sessionstore.max_concurrent_tabs to 0. This will prevent Firefox from holding in memory all but your most recently-used tabs. Clicking on a tab will automatically refresh it.The Panorama feature received some small changes, too. It now comes with a &quot;how-to&quot; video that must be manually removed, and there's a dedicated search button that wasn't there before. There's a new button to jump you back to the site you were looking at when you jumped into Panorama, a convenience that was sorely missing from the previous beta.The speed improvements in this beta are instantly noticeable, but the browser remains in beta and it's not expected to be ready until January 2011. The full changelog for Firefox 4 beta 7 can be read here. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[How Meg Whitman could have won]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=how-meg-whitman-could-have-won</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=how-meg-whitman-could-have-won</comments>
<pubDate>Sun, 07 Nov 2010 07:10:14 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>ArjunSahker</dc:creator>
<category>Politics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=how-meg-whitman-could-have-won</guid>
<description><![CDATA[I woke up this morning thinking about Meg Whitman. You see, I'm finding hard to come to terms with the fact that my campaign to become customer of the week at my local Starbucks was successful and Whitman's quest to be governor of the week was not.Should you have been unaccountably unaccounted for during World Series celebrations, you might have missed that the former eBay CEO failed in her grandiloquent bid to become CEO of California, or whatever they call that position in which everyone who tries fails.Some have put this abject calamity down to a rather crude attempt at buying an election by spending $140 million. Which seemed a little excessive when her opponent was a man of grandfatherly years and grandmotherly purse.Naturally, there are those who suggest that her unfortunate attitude toward employing an illegal immigrant in her household didn't exactly endear her to the Latino community. It seemed to reek of a rather imperial lack of benevolence. The New York Times even suggested that Silicon Valley bigwigs are, because of their excessively analytical bent, hair-raisingly incapable of relating to normal human beings.And yet Whitman wasn't a typical tech CEO. She had spent considerable parts of her life marketing simple products to real people. Yes, Noxzema skin care, Disney theme stores, and Keds sneakers. The stuff of everyday life. The stuff that satisfies real people's simple needs, however mundane you might think those needs are. This was not someone who should have appeared so disconnected with those whose votes she needed.Whitman in the good times.(Credit:CC White African/Flickr)Not only had Whitman enough experience marketing simple products, she then became president and CEO of eBay. This was a company that gave real people an opportunity to get hold of real things (mostly), for less money, more easily. This was a company that understood that not everyone had money to burn, while everyone was always in need of something. Even a win in an auction.And that's the best that real people feel they can get in politics. Once, in a while, their vote feels like a win in an auction.Somehow, Whitman managed to jettison everything she knew about people and put her political fate in the hands of supposed experts who told her she had the buying power to buy power.What if, instead of going the high-rolling, Big Momma, government-is-a-business route, she had declared at the outset: &quot;Look, I know a lot of you are struggling out there. I know a lot of you don't see much hope. So I'm not going to pound you with tons of ads saying how great a CEO I was. In fact, I'm not going to spend a ton of money on my campaign at all. I know you'd see straight through that. You were all my customers when I was at eBay.&quot;What if she had continued: &quot;Instead, I'm going to go around California in a hybrid SUV and I'm going to meet as many of you as I can and see what I can do to make your lives simpler, easier and more hopeful. If I can put an extra 100 bucks back in your pocket, just like I did at eBay, then that will be a start.&quot; Wouldn't that have made her a little more believable, a little more electableIt's true that marketing yourself can be far harder than marketing a product whose uses you understand and whose target market you can, in the most basic terms, relate to. And Whitman's advisers are now claiming that California is &quot;a very blue state, and it's getting bluer.&quot;Which, no doubt, explains why a Republican is leading in the race for attorney general, for example.Did Whitman really believe that she suddenly didn't need to think about what others needed Or did her very expensive advisers convince her that politics was an entirely different game--something expensive political advisers have a tendency to do People are always people, whether they're walking into a Disney Store, buying a face cream, or choosing to vote for a candidate. Meg Whitman chose to believe that the people's only needs were to be told what's best for them. Over and over again.How quaint in today's rather active, mobile, supposedly empowering digital world.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[A social network dark horse Tagged has 100M registered users]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=a-social-network-dark-horse-tagged-has-100m-registered-users</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=a-social-network-dark-horse-tagged-has-100m-registered-users</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>ArjunSahker</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=a-social-network-dark-horse-tagged-has-100m-registered-users</guid>
<description><![CDATA[When you think of popular social networks, Tagged probably isn&amp;'t the first one that comes to mind. Or the second. But the San Francisco company said that it had a hugely successful 2010, ending the year with more than 100 million registered users and completing its third straight year of profitability.That puts Tagged behind Facebook (which probably has around 600 million users) and Twitter (which has nearly 200 million), but ahead of professional networking site LinkedIn (which shared its user numbers when announcing its plans for a public offering).How can a social network stand up to Facebook Well, Tagged built its features around helping users make new connections, whereas Facebook is all about helping you strengthen your existing network (as executives have admitted).Here are some other numbers that Tagged shared with VentureBeat exclusively:A leaked email revealed earlier that Tagged plans to double its staff and give everyone a 10 percent raise. The company&amp;'s investors include Mayfield Fund, Horizon Technology Finance, and Leader Ventures.Next Story: Egypt&amp;'s internet shutdown sparks a communications battle Previous Story: Community news site Topix has a future in politicsPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: social networkCompanies: Tagged          Tags: social networkCompanies: TaggedAnthony is a senior editor at VentureBeat, as well as its reporter on media, advertising, and social networks. Before joining the site in 2008, Anthony worked at the Hollister Free Lance, where he won awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association for breaking news coverage and writing. He attended Stanford University and now lives in San Francisco. Reach him at anthony@venturebeat.com. (All story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com) You can also follow Anthony on Twitter. Have news to share Launching a startup Email: tips@venturebeat.comVentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[AOL picks up unified profile provider About.me just four days after launch]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=aol-picks-up-unified-profile-provider-about-me-just-four-days-after-launch</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=aol-picks-up-unified-profile-provider-about-me-just-four-days-after-launch</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>ArjunSahker</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=aol-picks-up-unified-profile-provider-about-me-just-four-days-after-launch</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Well, that was quick.AOL announced today that it is going to buy About.me, a service that helps people create a profile page, just four days after the site went live.About.me lets its users create a &amp;''splash page&amp;'' that points to the rest of their content on the Internet. That can include LinkedIn and Facebook profiles, Twitter accounts and Flickr photo streams. The idea is to let users have a landing page they can hand out to friends and other contacts that points to their whole presence on the Internet.Each landing page is highly customizable. Users can upload a high-resolution photo of themselves a4&quot; or anything else a4&quot; to use as a background. They can also change the fonts and make other specific tweaks. The site also includes a number of analytics tools to go with each profile. Users can track how many people visit and link to their landing page.The site went live for everyone last week after collecting around 400,000 beta users. Another 20,000 people signed up as soon as the service went live as well, according to TechCrunch. The sign-up procedure is pretty quick, and it only takes about a minute or two to get a profile up on the web.About.me&amp;'s acquisition comes at a time when AOL is trying to re-invent itself as a large producer of content, rather than an Internet service provider. The company has begun quicklyoffloading weaker assets like Bebo and picking up content providers like tech blogging site TechCrunch. The moves are part of new-CEO Tim Armstronga4a4s vision to make AOL the largest producer of content on the web after a number of failed attempts to diversify the companya4a4s revenue.&amp;''Aol is doing what great, sustainable business do every so often a4&quot; theya4a4re reinventing themselves,&amp;'' About.me co-founder Tony Conrad said in a blog post detailing the announcement.Conrad isn&amp;'t a stranger when it comes to dealing with AOL. He sold his last company, blog content engine Sphere, to AOL for $25 million. The financial details of the About.me deal weren&amp;'t released. Its investors include AOL Ventures, True Ventures, Freestyle capital and a number of others. The site has raised $425,000 in angel funding to date.Next Story: Our favorite stocking stuffers for phones and tablets Previous Story: Nvidia&amp;'s Tegra 2 could have a starring role in superphones and tablets debuting at CESPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: connected profiles, profilesCompanies: about.me, aol          Tags: connected profiles, profilesCompanies: about.me, aolMatthew Lynley is VentureBeat's enterprise writer. He graduated from University of North Carolina, where he studied math and physics, in May 2010. He has reported for Reuters. He currently lives in San Francsico, Calif. You can reach him at mattl@venturebeat.com (all story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com), and on Twitter at @logicalmoron.VentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[The Good Old&nbsp'Days]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=the-good-oldnbspdays</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=the-good-oldnbspdays</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>ArjunSahker</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=the-good-oldnbspdays</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Stream of consciousness you say Trying to find something on what used to be called the Internet is now officially a full time job. Ita4a4s not so much that various media strategies and hardware devices have carved things up into a tangle. Ita4a4s that what passes for interesting has been shorn of a reliable index in the move toward social filtering. Wea4a4re not there yet, the message seems to be. Is there a there there we are going to get to Not clear.Navigating Apple TV and its various peeks into the presumed future has been a valuable waste of time. For $100 plus an HDMI cable I get to sample various media dead ends including NetFlix, iTunes rental, buy, and streaming options, YouTube, and other stuff I cana4a4t remember right now. In the past, I would have spent more time testing the work arounds for adding podcasts and ripped music to broaden the choices, but something about the device suggests wea4a4re in such a rapid shakeout it might be easier to wait.But for what Google TV seems caught in little brother mode behind the next loser tablet wave. What ultimate value is there in trading Applea4a4s dead ends for another set of second rate dead ends The idea that we can replace the aggregate value of the Hollywood studio system with some loose coalition of rag tag revolutionary product ignores the tendency for the avant-garde to go mainstream. At some point, having everything work from one device is the best way of killing any possible interest in whata4a4s available.Wea4a4re getting to the same place in the social software sweepstakes too, and I have Rackmouth to thank for it. In a recent update, Facebook messages are now randomly popping up with messages (I think) from everyone who Ia4a4ve a4Afriendeda4 since the dawn of time. Sometimes these chicklets or toasters or requestors as they used to be called or badges as they might now be called come 30 at a time, staying onscreen just long enough for me to miss any one of them as I scan. Ita4a4s like a dream where I keep trying to figure something out and keep getting distracted by another thing I never quite figure out beforea4.The new Twitter clients perpetuate this feeling of never quite catching up, of clicking from one random comment to a full stream of comments by some random person. The metadata and inferences surrounding each identity are becoming the way we know each other. If you want to know who this person is like, follow these people and see what they are interested in. Good luck ever finding your way back to the original comment or person, however. Ita4a4s probably better to wait until they pop up again randomly.Switching media helps a little. While watching conventional TV last night, I saw an ad for Kindle books that pointed out you could continue reading a purchase you bought on the iPhone over on an Android phone or a Blackberry or whatever. When we have twenty loser tablets to also choose from, wea4a4ll be that much happier. In other words, theya4a4re selling against the pain of Apple TV, Roku, Google TV, etc., promising you the respite of universal access to a good old book.This is where the mainstream is going, selling escape from the business of hunting down content across overlapping silos. And ita4a4s going to work too. Like the enterprise players understand, ita4a4s the maintenance contract that will provide the most durable relationship. Ita4a4s almost as though these guys are in league together, making it so difficult to own anything that youa4a4ll be grateful for a smaller menu of choices that are streamed at you no matter what device youa4a4re on. This is the new shelf space, the guaranteed mediocrity of the new common denominator.Eventually, after waiting a while to hear from that interesting new friend who had something ephemerally clever to say, after surviving the NetFlix window or the network boycott of whichever device I have already collected, I will go back to my various bookshelves or @mentions or aging bookmarks and find something interesting to do. Even though I know the stream is littered with the as yet undiscovered time waster of tomorrow, Ia4a4m confident a careful sort of yesterdaya4a4s rejects will turn up something. Ita4a4s only in retrospect we realize these are the good old days.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Kno Tablet Will Start At $599 For Single-Screen, $899 For&nbsp'Dual-Screen]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=kno-tablet-will-start-at-599-for-single-screen-899-fornbspdual-screen</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=kno-tablet-will-start-at-599-for-single-screen-899-fornbspdual-screen</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>ArjunSahker</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=kno-tablet-will-start-at-599-for-single-screen-899-fornbspdual-screen</guid>
<description><![CDATA[When textbook tablet startup Kno raised $46 million in September from Andreessen Horowitz and Silicon Valley Bank, it was shooting to price its dual-screen tablet at under $1,000.  On Tuesday, it will announce the pricing of its tablets at $899 for the dual-screen version and $599 for the single-screen version.  It will also start taking limited pre-orders for shipping before the end of the year.At $599, the single-screen tablet, will be $100 more than a WiFi-only iPad and the same price as a Samsung Galaxy Tab from T-Mobile without a contract.  But the Kno is ginormous.  Even the single-paned one, with its 14.1 inch screen, is nearly twice as big as an iPad.  That one debuted at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco (see demo video below).Although the Kno has a color touch-screen and runs a browser and learning apps, it is competing less with the iPad than with the extra-large Kindle DX, which sells for $379, has a 9.7-inch black-and-white screen, and also targets the textbook market.  What it will come down to, though, is not so much the price of the device as much as the availability and price of the textbooks on each device.  Kno CEO Osman Rashid declares that that the number of textbook titles available on the &amp;''Kindle Dx wona4a4t be more than ours.&amp;''  By the time, the Kno gets into students hands there will be tens of thousands of textbook titles for sale at 30 to 50 percent cheaper than the print editions.    The Kno should pay for itself within three semesters, and students won&amp;'t have to lug around a backpack full of paper textbooks.  They can also take notes on the Kno.The money is in the textbooks and apps, not in the hardware.  &amp;''We dona4a4t see ourselves as a hardware platform, but as a learning platform company,&amp;'' says Rashid.  In a year or two, it is not hard to imagine that $599 Kno costing only half as much, opening up the world of digital textbooks to even more students.  Below is the demo video if the Kno from Disrupt:                                      We have 2 demos in a row.             So is that gonna work okay           Okay .           Up on stage with me is Osman Rashid and Babur Habib.           Founder and  CTO and CEO of Kno.           And  you were also also the founder of Chegg.          Right.           Which just raised 75 million dollars.           W e''ll talk about that later.           Do you have a  mic           Are you mic-ed up          I am mic-ed up.          Okay.           So go ahead.           You''ve got 10 minutes to do your  demo.           What are you gonna show us today          All right.           First of all.           What is Kno            Kno stands for knowledge.           It is short for knowledge.           But  before we get into our announcement for the day, let me just take a quick minute to give a little bit of a background.           So  we started Kno with one clear mission to improve the way students l earn.           In order to do that, we must first improve the learning experience that the students have today.           And the first thing we  introduce the Kno a few months ago.            With the notion of doing just that to digitize the learning experience and to create a fusion between the national analog behavior, digital content and the learning experience.           Now to replace to improve experience, you know the first thing you have to do is really replaced what''s  inside his backpack as you know, this can weight a lot.           And the Kno digitizes how you read,  how you read, how you write, you do your research.           Y ou collaborate with other students and organize your knowledge .           We then wrapped that up into a learning platform to provide in context learning.          For example, if you''re a biology student, and you''re studying on a topic.           This was from information  from the knowledge platform based on all the thing  you are learning on the topic.           The entire notion is  that when you combine this two together, you can fundamentally shift the way students learn today.            Is this your existing product          So, this is Kno that was announced a few months ago.          Digital textbook.           So in June we  unveiled the Kno.           A ground breaking dual display tablet textbook.           Our aim was to mimic the analog behavior of student learning into the digital platform.           And with 2 displays we  can show a textbook alongside or a full browser  all at the same time.           Exactly like how students do right now.           So our philosophy has always been that we are creating a learning platform in multiple devices.           W e''ll be able to access the platform and today we had taken the full step in the direction for.           For the first time, we''re very excited to announce a  singles screen tablet textbook, and  this 14.1 inch tablet text is fully integrated with o ur learning platform and allows the student to read, write,  to collaborate, to organize your knowledge and research.           A nd  so this one is what we''re gonna show for you today.          All right.           Now for the demo.           What  I would like to talk today is the integrated experience that we want to provide students on our platform.           Can everybody see that.            So first all, and foremost for students is organization.           Our desktop provides kinds of space which organizes students life.           There''s a dedicated section to apps.           W e''ll have a full support for third  party app developers as well as a software develop ing kit that we will be announcing in the future.           One of the examples of an app maybe a white board where the student''s chalked up  what they need to do through out the day.            The micro c-section i s where all your course material is organized for that particular semester.            Now, in our previous announcement, what we showed you guys was how nicely a textbook is laid out on our device.           Today, we wanna one step further and show you how the notebook is integrated into our platform.            We want to provide students with a writing experience  such that they forget the physical hand and paper.           Students have told us the designs of text book, taking class notes,  doing home work annotating lecture notes is extremely important to them.           Now you can say, well, why don''t you give them a virtual keyboard and they can type away           Well, it turns out the research had shown that students retain a lot more when they write rather than when they type.            A nd as you can see from this particular example of a class note page is not just about the text.           It''s about complex figures It''s about even more complex figure say when you''re doing a a homework problems, it''s about equations.           As we all know e quation editors are the most cumbersome piece of software that we know of.           Not only, it''s about the equation but you know, at time, students have to relay the equation, or a particular figure to grasp what are they''e drawing.           So here, let me do that as an example.           So, as you can see we will provide a seamless integration of  into our device as well which is very, very important to students.           And this is s econd most important thing Integrating with our device now.           Let''s take this example a little bit further.            The notebook is not only just a place   for writing.           But it''s also for integrating information from other sources.           In this particular case, it so happens that the student has imported a copy and pasted a figured from the textbook.           So now when they are reviewing all of these material from their midterm exam.           They come to the figure but, like yeah, you know what, there were a couple of other highlights that I did on that particular textbook.           Let me go there.           And with a single touch, you''re on the textbook now.           Exactly the same figure with all the highlights.           We''ll have a full integrated internet browser by the way, we''ll support flash as well as a HTML files.             Students can link particular sections of the page  of the textbook to their duplicate  websites as an example over here the students has l inked it to their department website.           Okay my files is slow.            Well, this is to show you how it will actually be Integrated over the .           I must be holding devise wrong.           All right.           Okay.           Let me go back to the notebook and highlight a few other features of note taking.           It  is not only a note taker but a lot of students like engineering students as well as art students will use it for drawing.           Here''s an example  and you know one of the most important things about writing for students'' is how well doodle in class And, here is an example of what happened when we were when we were preparing for tech launch.            I hope you recognize the face.           You got a nice doodle there I wanna show the yeah.           You can give him mustache and a little thing.               We ''re running out of time.           So I''m just gonna put the summary page here  and show you guys how we''re integrating giving the students an integrated experience and bringing the analog world in which they live right now into the digital world.             Do you have a booth or anything           Can people see this           If they wanna check it out or  just grab you before you leave.          I don''t believe you have booths right now.          Okay, well that was in, so you can look at the video.           Just one quick question before you get off here.           In the back stage we''re talking about  ,you know, you started with Chegg, which is physical booksRight.           It''s sort of   ,you know, you started with Chegg, which is physical booksRight.           It''s sort of  disrupting the textbook market, and that now obviously that this sort of really disrupting it potentially.             Do you see a time in the future where you know these books are pay per download.            Could this be the rentals           Sure absolutely.           The whole notion is that we want to give students a choice in any medium  physical or digital to get the book at a price or in the term that they want so they can buy the book completely or they can actually  rent the book for short amount of time, it''s a different options.           Right and so who do you think this has been appeal to, versus the double paying book.           I mean it''s it''s a different or these targeted a different type of users.            We believe that they will be target audiences for both of the  the devices.           There are some category of students that will be  lighted to displays and would want to work with that and you know there are certain college students where they will feel that you know a cheaper device is what I want they will go for a device.          Is this gonna be gonna be cheaper.          Just will be absolutely cheaper than the dual screen and we  will be anouncing pricing about 4 weeks.           Okay.           Terrific.           Well everyone, please give him a round of applause.           Thank you very much for filling up.           And, we''re gonna take a five minute break as we''re running late and we got a jam-packed.                                                       CrunchBase InformationKnoInformation provided by CrunchBase<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Cadbury Cocoa Houses, now launching in the UK - Springwise]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=cadbury-cocoa-houses-now-launching-in-the-uk---springwise</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=cadbury-cocoa-houses-now-launching-in-the-uk---springwise</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>ArjunSahker</dc:creator>
<category>Food</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=cadbury-cocoa-houses-now-launching-in-the-uk---springwise</guid>
<description><![CDATA[It was back in 2004 that we first got whiff of an emerging cocoa trend, promising an alternative to the current Starbucks-induced coffee and tea madness. That was right about when British Cadbury was opening its Cadbury Cocoa House in Bath a4&quot; a concept that apparently didn''t ultimately take hold a4&quot; but now the concept is being reborn as a brand-new series of cocoa houses across the UK.With a first shop just opened in Kent''s Bluewater shopping centre, Cadbury Cocoa Houses are slated to spread to Wales next year, according to a report in WalesOnline. Each venue will feature hot and chilled chocolate drinks and a rotating menu created with the help of Welsh restaurateur and food critic Simon Wright' featured items include traditional afternoon tea, bacon butties and knickerbocker glories. a4AWherever possible wea4a4ve insisted on using local producers to keep the concept British,a4 said David Morris, one of the co-founders behind the idea. a4AYou wona4a4t find French, Italian or American items on the menu.a4 Up next will be another eight to 10 stores opening next year in Wales.There''s something inspiring about seeing an older brand like Cadbury tapping into concepts like the being space and the (still) made here trend. Will Cadbury Cocoa Houses be able to take on Starbucks and its ilk Only time will tell. In the meantime, it''s another bit of proof that what''s old really can be made new again. One to watch! Website: www.cadburycocoahouse.comContact: info@cadburycocoahouse.comSpotted by: Wales Online via Sara Fox<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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