201 lines
8.3 KiB
HTML
201 lines
8.3 KiB
HTML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
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<html newsdate="2014-01-04" type="newsletter">
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<version>1</version>
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<head>
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<title>FSFE Newsletter – January 2014</title>
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</head>
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<body microformats="h-entry">
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<h1 class="p-name">FSFE Newsletter – January 2014</h1>
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<h2>From Yuletide to Full-Blown Winter</h2>
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<p>
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Many hackers (including us, of course!) have been enjoying the various
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festivities occurring around the winter solstice. But, alas!, the time
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to dwell on Christmas presents and enjoy a family recess is no more –
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the Yule has gone, the year has been made anew, and the fight for
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freedom and liberty demands our attention once more. Hence, it is only
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fitting to begin with a short review of what 2014 has got in store for
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us during the next few months.
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</p>
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<p>
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Those fond of celebrations should already have their eyes set on
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February 14, the yearly occasion when our website turns pink and
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heart-laden, and the perfect time to
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<a href="/activities/ilovefs/">hug developers</a> and bring
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loved ones to Free Software and the
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<a href="/fellowship/index.html">Fellowship</a>.
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</p>
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<p>
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Those favouring a more hands-on approach have to wait until late March
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to
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<a href="http://documentfreedom.org/">educate their fellow citizens</a>
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about <a href="/freesoftware/standards/standards.html">Open Standards</a>. However, it
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is not necessary to despair: our various
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<a href="/activities/activities.html">ongoing campaigns</a> are always
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looking for new hacktivists. Getting in touch is
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<a href="/contact/contact.html">easy</a>!
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</p>
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<p>
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And while we are on the topic, there will be many opportunities to meet
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our staff, volunteers, and Fellows throughout the year. For starters,
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FSFE is going to be present with a booth at the Free Software conference
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FOSDEM, which takes place on the first weekend of February at Brussels.
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Everyone fancying a chat or running low on
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<a href="/order/order.html">freedom gear</a> should stop by. Those who
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cannot make it to FOSDEM this year should occasionally check the events
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section on <a href="/#id-events">our website</a> for future opportunities to
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meet us.
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</p>
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<h2>Do It Yourself versus Digital Restrictions Management</h2>
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<p>
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While we are sure that many of our readers were either lucky or vocal
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enough to only receive Christmas presents that respect their freedom,
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there are probably some who find themselves in possession of items that
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were neither made by the giver nor appear in our sister's
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<a href="https://www.fsf.org/givingguide/">Holiday Giving Guide</a>.
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</p>
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<p>
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We have a few recommendations for handling such gifts: some of those can
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be liberated (e.g.,
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<a href="/activities/android/android.html">Android devices</a>);
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developers working to create free replacements to various proprietary
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systems would most likely appreciate hardware donations (search the web
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for various efforts to liberate various device categories); and you
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might be able to hack such a gift to run Free Software.
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</p>
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<p>
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Whatever you have decided to do with such items, we would love to hear
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about your solutions. We have opened a mailing list
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<a href="https://lists.fsfe.org/pipermail/discussion/2014-January/009897.html">thread</a>
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on the topic and e-mails to
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<a href="mailto:discussion@lists.fsfe.org">discussion@lists.fsfe.org</a>
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(please be advised this is a public mailing list) are most welcome. In
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addition to solutions to non-free gifts, we are also looking forward
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to reading about freedom-respecting or DIY gifts you are truly enjoying.
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</p>
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<h2>Something Completely Different</h2>
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<ul>
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<li>
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This newsletter is regularly available in Romanian since December 2013
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. Our associate
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<a href="/associates/associates.html#id-fundația-ceata">Fundația Ceata</a>
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has taken it upon themselves to provide timely translations for which
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we are extremely grateful.
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</li>
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<li>
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From the <a href="https://planet.fsfe.org">planet aggregation</a>:
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</li>
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<ul>
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<li>
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Our ex-Vice President Henrik Sandklef has been
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<a href="http://sandklef.wordpress.com/2013/12/28/lcd-support-added-in-searduino/">busy</a>
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adding
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<a href="http://searduino.wordpress.com/2013/12/28/partial-lcd-support-in-searduino-not-complete-but-ready-for-use/">LCD support</a>
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to Searduino. The latter post (not on the planet) also serves
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as a call for contributors.
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</li>
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<li>
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Isabel Drost-Fromm's
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‘<a href="http://blog.isabel-drost.de/posts/on-geeks-growing-up.html">On geeks growing up</a>’
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contemplates the meaning of life, or to put it more plainly,
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family-friendliness of various technology conferences. The
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positive role models Isabel has identified deserve a few words
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of encouragement, and to Isabel herself we say naught but
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Inductive Bias rocks!
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</li>
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<li>
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Guido Arnold, Deputy Coordinator of the Education team, has
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collected and summarised November news stories about
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<a href="https://blogs.fsfe.org/guido/2013/12/free-software-in-education-news-november/">Free Software in education</a>.
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</li>
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<li>
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Daniel Pocock has written extensively about WebRTC
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(‘Free calling from browser to mobile with free software’,
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‘Get WebRTC going faster’,
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‘xWiki: 10 years and a WebRTC success story’).
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</li>
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<li>
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Paul Boddie has done the same about Kolab
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(‘<a href="https://blogs.fsfe.org/pboddie/?p=606">Adventures in Kolab Packaging and pykolab</a>’,
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‘<a href="https://blogs.fsfe.org/pboddie/?p=623">Integrating setup-kolab with Debian Packaging</a>’).
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</li>
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<li>
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The last planet item to warrant an honourable mention in the
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newsletter under this temporary editorship is Jens Lechtenbörger's
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‘<a href="https://blogs.fsfe.org/jens.lechtenboerger/2013/12/23/openpgp-and-smime/">OpenPGP and S/MIME or Trust and “Trust”</a>’. Jens
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explains why OpenPGP should be preferred over S/MIME for e-mail
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encryption. Acquainting oneself with the explanation is highly
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recommended for anyone making use of, or contemplating the use of,
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e-mail encryption.
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</li>
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</ul>
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<li>
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Repentinus, one of our two Fellowship Representatives, is keeping his
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neck warm this winter by wearing a green-black woollen scarf featuring
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the Fellowship Plussy and letters "FSFE". Those among our readers who
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can knit can make themselves a similar scarf by following
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<a href="http://tjadens.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/knitting-pattern-make-your-own-fsfe.html">the instructions provided by his girlfriend</a>
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(please be advised this link leads to a blog hosted on Blogspot;
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taking appropriate precautions (like using a JavaScript blocker) is
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recommended). The rest of our readers can either learn to knit or have
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someone knit this scarf for them.
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</li>
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</ul>
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<h2>Giving for Freedom</h2>
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<p>
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This newsletter started with a short overview of annual events waiting
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us in the next few months. Such celebrations, while fun and educational,
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require the combined efforts of volunteers and our staff to organise.
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In addition to requiring staff time, activities hosted as part of the
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celebrations require funds. Furthermore, in addition to the fun
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celebrations, we require funds to keep our continuous campaigns running,
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lobby for Free Software, advise developers on Free Software licensing,
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and educate technology companies on Free Software and licence
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compliance. Unfortunately, we have not yet secured our budget for 2014.
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Our readers considering supporting our work can either
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<a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate">make a one-time donation</a> or
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<a href="https://my.fsfe.org/donate">join the Fellowship</a>. We thank all
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our existing donors and Fellows!
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</p>
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<p>
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Free New Year!<br />
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<a href="/about/ojasild/ojasild.html">Heiki Ojasild</a> -
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<a href="/">FSFE</a>
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</p>
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</body>
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<sidebar promo="about-fsfe"><!--
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<h3>FSFE News</h3>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="/news/">Press Releases</a></li>
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<li><a href="https://planet.fsfe.org/">Planet Blogs</a></li>
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<li><a href="/contact/community.html">Free Software Discussions</a></li>
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</ul>
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--></sidebar>
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<author id="repentinus" />
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<date>
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<original content="2014-01-04" />
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</date>
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<followup>donate</followup>
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<tags>
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<tag key="newsletter"/>
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</tags>
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</html>
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