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Sunday, June 30, 2013

How to Become a Better Entrepreneur in the Next 30 Minutes by NEIL PATEL



Do you want to be a better entrepreneur?
Do you want to make more money?
Here’s how you can do it in 6 steps.

1. Take a break

Just for a moment, sit back and relax. Before you dive back into your work you need to figure out where you are financially in life. One of the main reasons you are going into business is because you want to make more money. So the main question that should come to your mind is:
How much money do you want to make?
You don’t need a billion dollars and the odds of you making anywhere near that are slim to none. So what’s your number?
Chances are the amount you want to make is far more than you’ll actually need. Sit down and take a moment to write down everything you want to buy and how much money you’ll need to make to buy it all. Maybe a fancy house, some exotic cars, and enough cash where you don’t have to worry about working. If you add up the total of everything you want, it shouldn’t run you more than a few million dollars and if you break it down into yearly income it probably won’t be more than a few hundred thousand dollars.
If this isn’t the case, then you are smoking crack. You don’t need tons of toys to be happy. If you think you do, you will have a tough time making all of that money because it is really unlikely that you will make a few million dollars a year or sell your company for a hundred million dollars if you haven’t even made a few hundred grand first.
So stop swinging for the fences, especially if you haven’t hit a single yet!

2. Stop innovating and start copying

Now that you know that you don’t have to make millions of dollars a year, you have to come up with a business that will help you make a decent amount of money. It doesn’t have to be an innovative business that solves a pain in the market place; it just has to be a business that can turn a healthy profit every year.
A good way to find one of these businesses is by talking to friends and family. You’ll be amazed on how many basic businesses like plumbing (I am not saying you should be a plumber) make a decent amount of money. Find something that you’ll enjoy and start the business. Just don’t pick something that requires millions of dollars to start.
If you already have a business analyze how you are currently doing and see what tweaks you can make to it, so that it fits your financial objectives.

3. Time isn’t on your side

Nothing has to be perfect. What you may see as faulty might look perfect to your customers. It doesn’t matter what you want, it matters what your customers want.
This is why you don’t want to make any big decisions because if something goes wrong you’ll end up wasting a lot of time. Break that big decision into a few small decisions. Then survey your customers or potential customers to get their opinion; this should help you determine what route to take.
Even after you talk to your customers you are still going to make mistakes. Just make sure you are agile enough to adapt quickly. It is all about testing small things instead of taking months to roll out changes in your business.

4. Work hard, play hard

If you work 12-hour days, you are going to get burned out. It doesn’t matter if you love what you are doing you need to take breaks.
  • Don’t work longer than a few hours without taking a break. Taking small breaks throughout your day will make you more efficient and cause you to accomplish more.
  • Every week you should do something that is out of the ordinary. It doesn’t have to be expensive, it could be as simple as going to the park and having a picnic with your family. Just do something that will take your mind away from work and reduce your stress level.
  • Create a work environment that you want to be in. Small things like having plants in your workspace, putting up motivational posters, and having a window to look out of can do wonders for you. If your work environment is dark and boring you’ll be forcing yourself to work everyday.

5. Stop deviating

New business opportunities are going to come your way and you will want to jump on them. But all of these things are going to be distractions. They’ll cause you to deviate from your path to success and it will take longer for you to reach your ultimate goal.
You to have to resist the temptation.
If you happen to take any of these opportunities you’ll soon find out that you will be increasing your risk intake. The more things you do, especially ones outside of your skill set, the higher the chance that something is going to fail.
Plus, the more things you do, the more spread out you will be. Once you spread yourself too thin you won’t be able to spend enough time on any of your businesses and you’ll notice that they will all suffer.

6. Never stop learning

The most important and last thing you should know is that you should never stop learning. No matter how successful you are, there is going to be someone out there who has accomplished more than you.
So instead of being arrogant, take every opportunity you get to learn new things. Whether it is from an experienced entrepreneur who has been around the block, or a 16-year-old kid, everyone can teach you something. You just have to learn what to take away from a conversation because there are going to be some things that are going to benefit you and others that won’t.

Conclusion

As an entrepreneur you have learned a few other things that I didn’t include in this blog post. Would you mind leaving a comment with some tips that would help others become a better entrepreneur in the next 30 minutes?

Saturday, June 29, 2013

7 Tips to Sell Your Ideas the Steve Jobs Way

By Carmine Gallo, Author of The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience 

Apple’s Steve Jobs returned to a standing ovation at a special music event in San Francisco on Wednesday, September 9th, marking the return of the world’s greatest corporate storyteller. For more than three decades, Steve Jobs has elevated product launches to an art form. His techniques, sharpened over the years, can be used by CEOs, entrepreneurs, small business owners, educators or anyone who wants to inspire an audience. Here are seven ways that Steve Jobs dazzles an audience, and so can you.

1. Create a “holy smokes” moment.
Every Steve Jobs presentation has one moment that leaves everyone in awe—the water cooler moment. These “moments” are scripted ahead of time to compliment his slides, the Apple Web site, press releases and advertisements. In 2008, Jobs pulled the MacBook Air out of a manila, inter-office envelope to show everyone just how thin it was. Bloggers went nuts and it was the most popular photograph of the event. On September 9, 2009, the “water cooler” moment wasn’t a product at all. Instead, it was Steve Jobs himself walking onstage after a long, health related absence. He told the audience he now had the liver of a mid twenties person who died in a car crash and was generous enough to donate their organs. “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for such generosity,” he said.

2. Stick to the rule of three.
The Rule of Three is one of most powerful concepts in writing. The human mind can only retain three or four “chunks” of information and Jobs is well aware of this principle. A Steve Jobs presentation is typically divided into three parts. During the September 9th event, Jobs outlined the presentation into three areas: iPhone, iTunes and iPod. Jobs has even been known to have fun with the principle. At Macworld 2007, he introduced “three revolutionary products;” an mp3 player, a phone, and an internet communicator. After repeating the three products several times, he disclosed the big announcement—all three would be wrapped up in one, the iPhone. The rule of three turned into a water cooler moment. Ask yourself, what are the three things I want my audience to know? Not twenty things, just three. You can get away with more points in written form (like an article) but stick to three in public presentations and verbal conversations.

3. Share the stage.
Jobs rarely gives an entire presentation himself. Instead he surrounds himself with a supporting cast. He had a large supporting cast at the September music event including Apple’s VP of product marketing, Phil Schiller and iTunes software designer, Jeff Robbin. At least four game developers took to the stage as well. Songwriter Norah Jones capped it off. Of course, you’re not going to have Norah Jones wrap up your next presentation, but if you can share the presentation with another team member (or customer) by all means, do so.

4. Introduce heroes and villains. 
Every great drama has a hero and a villain. Steve Jobs is a master at creating drama. We see this technique as far back at 1984 when Apple first introduced the Macintosh. Jobs set up the product launching by painting a picture of IBM “big blue” bent on “world domination.” Apple, he said, would be the only company to stand in its way. The crowd went nuts. One can argue that the “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” ads are hero vs. villain vignettes played out in thirty second ads. Great presentations have an antagonist—a common enemy—so the audience can rally around the hero. Your brand and your product play the role of the hero.

5. Think visually. Apple presentations are strikingly simple and visual. For example, there is very little text on a Steve Jobs slide. While the average PowerPoint slide has 40 words, there were far fewer than forty words in the first dozen slides of the September music event. When Jobs talked about the popularity of iPhone around the world, his slide showed 23 flags of different countries instead of country names. When said the iPhone app store was celebrating its first anniversary, a slide appeared with a birthday cake holding one candle. When he talked about lower iPod prices, the new price was accompanied by photos of the iPods. This is what psychologists call “picture superiority.” It simply means that ideas are more easily recalled when presented in text and images than in text alone.

6. Create Twitter-friendly headlines.
Apple makes it simple for the media to talk about their products—the company writes the headlines for them. Now, reporters will tell you that they like to come up with their own headlines, but why then did hundreds of them use “World’s thinnest notebook” to describe the MacBook Air? Because that’s the way Steve Jobs described it, and frankly, it’s hard to come up with a better way of saying it. Jobs always describes a new product with a concise phrase that fits well within a 140 character Twitter post. What’s an iPod? “One thousand songs in your pocket.” What’s Genuis Mix for iTunes? “It’s like having a DJ mix the songs in your library.” If you can’t describe what you do in one sentence, go back to the drawing board.

7. Sell dreams, not products.
Steve Jobs is passionately committed to changing the world and his passion shows in every presentation. Anyone can learn the specific techniques he uses to create visually creative slides, but those slides will fall flat if delivered without passion and enthusiasm. When Jobs introduce the iPod in 2001, he said that music was a transformative experience and that in its own small way, Apple was changing the world. Where most observers saw a music player, Jobs saw an opportunity to create a better world for his customers. That’s the difference between Jobs and the vast majority of mediocre leaders—Jobs is genuinely committed to changing the world and he’s not afraid to say it.

©2009 Carmine Gallo, author of The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience.

Author Bio
Carmine Gallo, author of The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience, is a presentation, media-training, and communication-skills coach for the world's most admired brands. He is an author and columnist for Businessweek.com and and a keynote speaker and seminar leader who has appeared on CNBC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC.com, BNET, RedBook, Forbes.com, and in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and Investor's Business Daily, as well as many other media outlets. Gallo lives in the San Francisco Bay area and is a former vice president for a global, top-ten public relations firm.For more information please visit http://www.carminegallo.com/

The Best Startup Resources

startupdigest.com/resources/

Friday, June 28, 2013

50 Online Tools That Will Help You Boost Productivity and Earn More Money


One of the great things about the web is the number of useful tools that can aid you in keeping track of all that you have to do and manage.
More importantly, many of these tools can be used to save time, increase productivity, and earn more money.
Perhaps the only downfall is the sheer number of tools that are available. It can be overwhelming.
Thankfully, I’ve done most of the work for you.
Below you’ll find a list of the absolute best online tools. That said, I’d still like to give a fair warning about this massive list of tools: look through them, pick a few that work for you, and ditch the rest.
You don’t need to use all of them. And you certainly don’t want to end up wasting time by using too many time–saving tools.
So without further adieu, here’s the list…

Table Of Contents

You can jump to any section by clicking the links below or just scroll down to view all of the online tools.
  1. Project Management Tools
  2. Productivity Tools
  3. Writing Tools
  4. Time Management Tools
  5. Business Tools
  6. Social Media Tools
  7. Browser Extensions and Addons

Project Management Tools

MindMeister allows your team to be more innovative by providing a shared collaboration and brainstorming environment using the proven mind mapping technique. Plan projects, manage meetings and sketch out business plans online with partners and colleagues, all in real time!
Freedcamp promises to be a free project management tool without restrictions on how many users or projects you can manage. Until now there haven’t been too many worthy competitors of 37signals’ Basecamp if you ask me, so it will be interested to see what Freedcamp will have to offer besides being free.
Campfire is like instant messaging, but designed exclusively for groups. Share text, files, and code in real time, and save transcripts so you don’t forget anything you covered. This is a product from 37signals, and while the fully featured version costs money, there is a free version available on the product page.
Backpack is an easy intranet for your business. Store, share, discuss, and archive everything that is essential for your team. Safe and secure. Backpack Pages are Backpack’s secret weapon. You can add any combination of notes, to–dos, files, photos, and dividers to a page. Pages just take seconds to create and can be used to organize, share, and discuss anything. This is a another product from 37signals, and while the fully featured version costs money, once again there is a free version on the product page.
Basecamp is the top choice for entrepreneurs, freelancers, small businesses, and groups inside big organizations. Basecamp tackles project management from an entirely different angle by focusing on communication and collaboration. Basecamp brings people together. This is also a product from 37signals, and while the fully featured version costs money, there is a free version on the product page.
6. Teamly
Teamly is a tool used by hundreds of businesses and thousands of individuals to improve their performance in the workplace. Teamly aims to help people move beyond their mile–long to–do list and focus instead on what is truly important.
Evernote lets you capture ideas, images, or audio clips from your PC or phone, and then sync them to the cloud for easy retrieval and organization. It even works with handwritten notes, turning your chicken scratch into searchable text. Use it if you want a better way of saving all the information you come across.

Productivity Tools

Most of these really need no introduction, as you are probably already familiar with them. From messaging and task apps such as Gmail, Google Talk, Google Calendar to collaboration apps such as Google Docs, Google Sites, Google Reader — Google Apps is the go–to place for those looking to be productive.
Going hand–in–hand with the Pomodoro Technique (check it out, it’s a killer technique for getting things done!), this is easily the best timer on the web for implementing said lifesaving productivity technique. Simple and great looking, with all of the necessary features, check out Focus Booster and find yourself being more productive in just 25 minutes!
10. Teux Deux
TeuxDeux is a simple, “designy” to–do app. If you like making to–do lists, you will love TeuxDeux. The idea was to build a bare bones, but visually compelling and highly usable to–do app. Use the free browser–based TeuxDeux at work and home, and then take your to–dos on the road with the iPhone app.
11. Toggl
Toggl is a time tracking app which aims to help you track time with a single click, and to switch easily between different tasks and create reports so that you can get things done and turn that precious time into productive time.
RescueTime is a comprehensive web–based time management app. After an install, it gives you an amazing analysis of the time you spend on your computer everyday. It works in the background so it’s not reliant on you entering any data. You just need to install their app and it does the rest.
13. Checkvist
One of the better task managers out there, with benefits of being extremely simple and additional aspects that might aid you including it’s support for hierarchical lists and it’s cool keyboard shortcuts which let you edit tasks in a snap.

Writing Tools

You are probably already familiar with this one, but I find it surprising that so many people ask about the student discount for Microsoft Office when they could be using OpenOffice for free! OpenOffice is promoted as being available in many languages, working on all common computers, storing data in an international open standard format and being able to read and write files from other common office software packages, as well as being available for download and use completely free of charge for any purpose.
15. WriteRoom (Mac)
The original Mac app for creating a full–screen writing space. While you may think you are staying productive in a more standard word processor such as Microsoft Word, wait until you have tried a full–screen writing app like WriteRoom. No distractions, no buttons to click on, and a blank page on which to spill your ideas.
16. DarkRoom (PC)
Basically, DarkRoom is a clone of the original WriteRoom that is an OS X exclusive application. It was a child of necessity, as there were no viable alternatives in Windows to produce the same behavior. The goal of the project is to capture the essence of WriteRoom, while keeping it simple and just as free.
Not a fan of the Matrix looking DarkRoom or the pure white WriteRoom? Try Zen Writer, the full screen writing app which has a soft background, and can be accompanied by soothing music, typewriter noise, or no noise and distractions at all. Spell check, print from the screen, and save as multiple file types, this is one of the best free full–screen writing programs available, and I personally use it quite often to write great material without distractions.
Sick of typing the same thing over and over, especially in emails? Check out Text Expander, the awesome little tool that you can program to autofill and autocorrect to a variety of customizable templates, allowing you to send out emails that you send often in half the time, if not less.
While it positions itself as an app for writing screenplays, I’ve found it is also extremely useful for anyone writing extremely long documents, such as an ebook. It lets you manage the structure of your writing into useful segments and gives a general overview of where the piece is going and how it is laid out, a much better solution than having a ton of Word or OpenOffice documents.

Time Management Tools

20. Helium
Helium is a dead simple task management tool to implement Getting Things Done (GTD) and Inbox Zero. Helium connects to your email (IMAP and Exchange) and Evernote to transform information you’re already processing into actions. Delegate tasks to anyone whether they use Helium or not.
21. LastPass
Most of us have a lot of accounts (somewhat ironic that this list could create a few more?) so it is fitting that a number of password manager applications have come about. I would argue that none are more simple and effective than LastPass at keeping track of your passwords in a safe and secure fashion, while keeping them easy for you to access when needed.
A very minimal site that allows you to create a list of things to do, in order, and click off when you accomplish them. Ever come home to multiple objectives? Now Do This helps you tackle them one at a time and allow yourself to confirm when you are done, helping you stay focused on single objectives and putting your best work into every task.
Text messages queued up with Oh Don’t Forget will be delivered at the date and time specified, unless you specify “now”, which will send the message instantly. Remind anyone about an event at a specific day and time queue up birthday reminders for the next several months have your to–do items sent to you throughout the day.
An always–on, always–available reminder system set for access from any online accessory. This is a great tool for personal productivity to supplement your team–based project management system. Definitely one of the more recognizable tools on this list, and now with it’s Gmail addon you can get even more use out of RTM!
Are you forgetful… or perhaps just super busy? BetterBuzzer helps you stay on top of important tasks by setting personalized reminder calls for yourself. They will keep calling you until you pick up. A message from their site: “We’re annoying like that. And you’ll love it!”
26. HiveDesk
HiveDesk provides anyone with remote workers a platform that makes it easier manage the outsourcing process. Workers can check in remotely and HiveDesk will log their work sessions. Never worry about wasted time again!
27. DeskTime
DeskTime shows you who’s working and who’s not. It’s like Google Analytics for your employees. This can be especially useful for service business, as in reality your employees are your product, since they are the ones typically providing the service.

Business Tools

28. DropBox
It’s been making waves recently for it’s simplicity and ease of use. DropBox allows you to set up a folder that you can drag and drop files to, which will then be automatically stored on your Dropbox. The cool part? You can access your dropbox from anywhere, and files stored in your dropbox become available from any medium that you’ve connected to the program, including other laptops, computers, and mobile devices.
29. Shoeboxed
Shoeboxed simplifies vital business tasks like expense reporting, accounting, tax prep and contact management. How? By digitizing your paper documents, unlocking the data trapped on them, and organizing everything neatly in your secure online account.
30. Mint
For a complete and free set of financial tools, try Mint. This fantastic money manager automatically syncs with your bank accounts, tracks your spending, and gives you detailed graphical reports that show you where your money comes from, where it’s going, and how you can save more.
StreamerApp is a hosted, highly customizable, do–it–yourself activity stream and dashboard giving you a quick and fancy look at all the business data that matter to you.
32. iPaper
iPaper (from Scribd) hopes to eliminate the headache of different document formats on the Web. iPaper is a rich document format built for the web. Built with Adobe Flash, iPaper will display documents in the same way regardless of whether you’re using Windows, MacOS, or Linux. Your readers no longer have to download files or extra software to view your documents.
33. HighRise
The one who remembers always has an edge. Whether you’re resolving a dispute or reaching out to clients, it pays to be prepared. Highrise keeps a log of notes so you can recall details from past conversations. Have the whole back story when you walk into a meeting. Highrise is like an always available cheat sheet. Once again, you can find free and paid versions on the product page.
34. ContactMe
ContactMe lets you consolidate all of your contacts and the business information that relates to each one into one convenient, online system. ContactMe keeps you on top of tasks, deadlines, details, correspondence, and appointments. Being organized has major benefits: you save time and effort and run a more professional and profitable business.
35. DocStoc
A free place to get legal documents and templates which can drastically help reduce your legal fees (and the time you spend creating the templates) and in some cases allow you to do some legal stuff yourself (although it is always advisable to consult an attorney for most things).

Social Media Tools

36. Bundlr
Bundlr lets you select the best content on the web into public theme pages. Cover real time breaking news, wrap up an event or research on your favorite topic. Using Bundlr, organizing the web is easy.
37. Timely
Timely helps you schedule tweets for maximum impact. What it does is analyze your past 199 tweets to figure out the best time slots. Timely then use this info to auto–schedule your tweets for prime timeslots, and it also learns as your followers grow!
38. Ping.fm
Want to update your Twitter status as well as Facebook, LinkedIn and other sites all at the same time from one place? Ping is great for this. Ping has the ability to update over 40 different social networks. This is a major time saver!
Despite the ugly design, SocialOomph allows for some great social network automation, but don’t fear, I’m talking about the good kind. Instant thank you DMs to followers, instant follow–backs, and lots of other scheduling features, SocialOomph can save you a lot of time on Twitter.
40. Tweriod
The first part in a one–two punch for Twitter updates that you justhave to check out. Tweriod allows for you to get a free, detailed report of when your followers are online the most, and when they are interacting with other tweets the most. Using this information, you can tell which are the best time periods in which to tweet, and send them out perfectly using…
41. BufferApp
…the BufferApp, the second part in the Tweriod/Buffer combo. After you’ve gotten your free report of when your Twitter followers are online, use Buffer to set up time periods in which your tweets will post every day, making sure they align with when your Twitter followers are online the most. This will maximize each tweet’s impact!
FullyFollow.me lets you connect your social profiles into one, and be followed across all of them with a single click. No more sharing of tons of social media accounts, share one link and let people fully follow you!
43. TweetDeck
The big dog of social media (and recently acquire by Twitter), TweetDeck is your personal browser for staying in touch with what’s happening now, connecting you with your contacts across Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and more. With TweetDeck anyone can update like a Pro. Customize your Twitter/Facebook experience with columns, groups, saved searches and automatic updates helping you to effortlessly stay updated with the people and topics you care about.

Browser Extensions and Addons

Note: I’m a Chrome user, so most of these listed will be from Chrome, but they often have FireFox counterparts.
You sit down at the computer, and you swear you’ll be productive. Next thing you know, it’s two hours later. You’ve checked your email, updated your Facebook status, browsed the trending topics on Twitter, read your RSS feeds, looked up your favorite band on Wikipedia, but what you haven’t done is work. StayFocusd is a productivity extension on Chrome that helps with that by limiting the amount of time you can spend on time–wasting websites.
Readability is a web and mobile app that zaps online clutter and saves web articlesin a comfortable reading view. No matter where you are or what device you use, your reading will be there. Readability offers a new way to†compensate writers and publishers without punishing readers. 70% of all membership fees go directly to the people who make the content.
46. Hyperwords (Firefox) | Hyperwords (Chrome)
A powerful web tool. In a single click you can do a large number of options including: search on Amazon, Google, Wikipedia (customizable); share via Email, Facebook, Twitter, WordPress; convert currencies and other units; and even translate dozens of languages.
47. ToDoist
Todoist is a leading online task manager that’s useful, fast and easy to use. I love the simplicity of the interface, I feel that important to having a to–do list that you will actually use every day. They manage millions of to–dos and they are ready to manage yours as well!
Never spend another second looking up a new word again. Especially useful for reading articles associated with academia, as now you can simply double click a single word in the article and instantly get a definition.
Smartsheet’s online project management tool takes an easy to use spreadsheet to the next level with features such as a Gantt chart, dependencies, sub–tasks, and attachments and discussions on any row.
50. Vyew
Beyond Web Conferencing: Vyew is a tool that allows you to meet and share information both in real time and continuously. Upload images, files, videos and more into Vyew, and Vyew will store the information in one Room that anyone can access and contribute to at anytime.
Most diagramming softwares require you to worry about things like choosing colors, drawing arrows, picking up the correct symbols, etc… All sort of things that get between your ideas and their representation. With Lovely Charts’s extremely simple and intuitive drag–and–drop drawing mechanism, you’re able to focus on what really matters. You won’t have to draw boxes or arrows, and you won’t have to worry about what symbol to use.
52. Ge.tt
Ge.tt is a real-time file sharing service. No need to wait for files to upload. They are ready to be shared as soon as you select them! It really is that easy. It’s file sharing in an instant. Ge.tt is based solely on browser technologies and works directly in your browser. No flash required. No applet needed. No installation before you’re ready to go.

Thursday, June 27, 2013

TRY WHAT WORKS

Often times we get confused about which direction to go, what business should we focus on, making
The right choice is critical. First thing you want to do is define your objective, then lay out a simple 10 point plan with number 10 being the goal. , once you do these simple steps I will
Provide to you the idea business with No investment on your part other than your time and energy And I can assure you will be making an income
within short order.  No matter what business you choose you need to
Follow the few steps aforementioned.

~Rul~

100 WEBSITES YOU SHOULD KNOW AND USE



AUDIO + VISUAL
LITERATURE, MEDIA + CULTURE
POLITICS, NEWS + GLOBAL ISSUES
EDUCATION
SCIENCE + TECHNOLOGY
And now, the original list from 2007, created by Julius Wiedemann, editor in charge at Taschen GmbH. While most of these remaining thriving websites, we’ve crossed out defunct websites and added notes when possible:
CURIOSITY & KNOWLEDGE
GRAPHICS, MUSIC & ARTS
E-COMMERCE EXPERIENCE
SEARCHING & FINDING
ONLINE RESOURCES
TOP INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCE CREATORS

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