Mac Fashion

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Everything in the Mac store is Snow White, or Titanium. How long can this last? What color scheme do you think Mac will cotton to next? The playful colors of the first iMacs and iBooks seem a world away, yet the mini ipods are in shiny metallic pink, blue, green, and silver. Is this the way of the future for Mac? Does the Titanium really overheat? Are they going to need to replace it? It's really not as sleek as the Sony Vaio was 5 years ago. Will they ever return to basic black? Make predictions, speculation, etc.

Also, how much did Mac pay to get Buffy, Dawson et al to endorse their product at every minute? If the series' endorsed on their own behalf--that was like 50 min. of free advertising a week--not bad. Certainly must have been more powerful than a few 1 min. ads?

Has Mac jumped the shark? Five years ago their seemed to be a certain prestige, club mentality to having a Mac. Now, frankly, walking into the Soho store is an embarassment--with those lecture presentations on how to use iPhoto, and the genius bar...what gives?

Mary (Mary), Sunday, 1 February 2004 20:10 (twenty years ago) link

MAC HAS NOT JUMPED THE SHARK
Can you hear me in Cincinnati?

Orbit (Orbit), Sunday, 1 February 2004 20:13 (twenty years ago) link

Next they'll have pretty desings on them.

Aja (aja), Sunday, 1 February 2004 20:13 (twenty years ago) link

They're teaching you some dumb shit at NYU if you think they jumped the shark...

ModJ (ModJ), Sunday, 1 February 2004 20:15 (twenty years ago) link

CKB to thread!

Orbit (Orbit), Sunday, 1 February 2004 20:16 (twenty years ago) link

i'm not from jersey, you goddamned freak

jody (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 1 February 2004 20:17 (twenty years ago) link

They'll be clear.

Aja (aja), Sunday, 1 February 2004 20:19 (twenty years ago) link

Do these mid-90s style ads, plastered on every street in Manhattan, inspire confidence?

http://www.simply.ca/products/images/iPod_Sept03_ad.jpg

Mary (Mary), Sunday, 1 February 2004 20:31 (twenty years ago) link

you act like you are.

xpost

Orbit (Orbit), Sunday, 1 February 2004 20:32 (twenty years ago) link

huh?

jody (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 1 February 2004 20:34 (twenty years ago) link

Compared to Dell Cow fashion, I'd say Apple still has the upper hand by quite a bit when it comes to tech-style. (What was the last microsoft ad you noticed?) I'll gladly exchange cult status if it means more mac support and software.

bnw (bnw), Sunday, 1 February 2004 20:51 (twenty years ago) link

Cow =Gateway. Or has Dell ripped off Gateway advertising?

I would love to see a clear laptop- that would be *awesome*!! Anyway, I'm glad they make their laptops white/titanium now; the old black powerbooks didn't look anywhere near as nice. This is my very first powerbook that I "personalized" late one night in college when I should have been studying:

http://www.wendyk.org/pb520.jpg

lyra (lyra), Sunday, 1 February 2004 21:06 (twenty years ago) link

Oh yeah, Dell has its cool intern ads! Gag.

bnw (bnw), Sunday, 1 February 2004 21:16 (twenty years ago) link

looks like all aluminium for pro machines and white for consumer for the time being. Coloured aluminium could be the next move for the consumer range.

Ed (dali), Sunday, 1 February 2004 21:20 (twenty years ago) link

i was wondering about this recently in relation to macs and fragrance packaging - this http://a772.g.akamai.net/7/772/2041/b1159a0887ef83/www.apple.com/r/store/smallinfoblock/images/17_top_09122003.jpg is basically the same as this http://www.escentual.co.uk/isroot/Escentual/SiteImages/Categories/calvinklein/contradiction_for_women.jpg - but how long can it go on?

jed_ (jed), Sunday, 1 February 2004 21:27 (twenty years ago) link

I second the shark jump.

El Spinktor (El Spinktor), Sunday, 1 February 2004 21:42 (twenty years ago) link

Titanium overheats? Has anyone told the space shuttle designers?

Markelby (Mark C), Sunday, 1 February 2004 21:47 (twenty years ago) link

http://a772.g.akamai.net/7/772/2041/b1159a0887ef83/www.apple.com/r/store/smallinfoblock/images/17_top_09122003.jpg

nothing with such stone cold modernist lines can jump the shark, it's like a van de rohe barcelona chair or a robin day sofa. The iMac on the other hand was far to baroque.

Ed (dali), Sunday, 1 February 2004 21:47 (twenty years ago) link

wtf is "Jumped the shark"?

jed_ (jed), Sunday, 1 February 2004 21:53 (twenty years ago) link

http://www.jumptheshark.com

tokyo rosemary (rosemary), Sunday, 1 February 2004 21:55 (twenty years ago) link

I think the "Think Different" ads were the beginning of the end. The consumer could no longer be trusted to think (different) for themselves, but had to be instruced to by the Mac people.

http://www.hollywoodlegends.com/images/ein-apple.jpg

Mary (Mary), Sunday, 1 February 2004 21:56 (twenty years ago) link

Jump the Shark ref. to the one of the later episodes of Happy Days where Fonzie jumped over the shark tank on his motorcycle. The idea being that if anyone has to go to those lengths to ensure viewer/reader/buyership, then it's time to quit.

ModJ (ModJ), Sunday, 1 February 2004 21:58 (twenty years ago) link

Mac had been running with the underdog "think different" vibe for years before those ads. Remember? I think Mary is leting her current upgrade difficulties sour her on all things Apple.

bnw (bnw), Sunday, 1 February 2004 22:04 (twenty years ago) link

in that case i think mac has jumped the shark.

jed_ (jed), Sunday, 1 February 2004 22:05 (twenty years ago) link

Apple has definately not jumped the shark *especially* in terms of styling, and suggesting so in sheer insanity. And as long as they're being compared, the Vaio is klutzy compared to the PowerBook, which is simply the sexiest, best-designed and well-made laptop out there. FACT !!!

Sean (Sean), Sunday, 1 February 2004 22:14 (twenty years ago) link

Is the TiBook really not an overheater? (I was just saying what I had heard.) In that case I might get it when this machine breathes it last breath.

Mary (Mary), Sunday, 1 February 2004 22:17 (twenty years ago) link

The bottom of it does warm up after using it for a few hours, but I wouldn't call that 'overheating'. I mean, it's not even close to the point of burning you or anything like that. Other laptops get warm too. Anyway, the latest line-up of PowerBooks is made of 'aviation-grade' aluminum or something like that, they no longer use titanium. They look the same though.

Sean (Sean), Sunday, 1 February 2004 22:25 (twenty years ago) link

TiBook was quite warm, but not too bad, they didn't overheat though.

x-post

Ed (dali), Sunday, 1 February 2004 22:25 (twenty years ago) link

The laptops are designed, ironically, I guess, to discharge heat through the keyboard, which means that the thing is one giant (!) heat sink... making it slightly inappropriate for lap use...

ModJ (ModJ), Sunday, 1 February 2004 22:27 (twenty years ago) link

The PowerBook's keyboard does *not* get in the least bit warm.

Sean (Sean), Sunday, 1 February 2004 22:29 (twenty years ago) link

I find its under the left wrist rest where it gets warm on my g3.

Ed (dali), Sunday, 1 February 2004 22:30 (twenty years ago) link

Is this Stealth marketing ?

Stringent Stepper (Stringent), Sunday, 1 February 2004 22:31 (twenty years ago) link

My old g3 used to get WAY hot. Now I have a g5 and it's very pleasant.

ModJ (ModJ), Sunday, 1 February 2004 22:41 (twenty years ago) link

Oh, I didn't intend for "overheat" to be taken so literally. I meant it, like, gets hot when you use it. Hotter than previous powerbooks. I don't speak from experience though. I just know that my old-skul G3 powerbook doesn't get too hot.

It's interesting that everyone is concentrating on the jump-the-shark comment. I just threw that in at random. What I am more interested in, is: What is the next color palette of the Mac family going to be?

I think clear is a very interesting answer. Surely they will change their colors in the next few years, to make the machines that you are all typing on right now look redundant and declasse.

Bnw is right, part of this is sour grapes because my preppie powerbook that I love and that has seen me through grad school will probably be left behind by the developing Mac OS's in the next year or so. So we're really buying computers just to keep up with the new operating systems, not the other way around.

Mary (Mary), Sunday, 1 February 2004 22:46 (twenty years ago) link

What would Willow be using today? iBook or Tibook?

http://www.the-night.net/buffyvsdrac/images/Dracula008.jpg

Mary (Mary), Sunday, 1 February 2004 22:56 (twenty years ago) link

Remember the DC episode where Dawson is going off to college and his father buys him a non-Mac computer? Dawson has a freak-out and makes a speach out how Mac is part of his identity and if his father doesn't realize that than his father doesn't know him?

Remember Felicity? The whole series was like an ad for Mac. What was it with the WB and Macs? Did they use Macs bc they were cool or were Macs cool bc they used them?

Does Rory have a Mac? I can't remember anyone on Gilmore Girls endorsing a computer...

I saw a re-run from the last season of DC and Joey had had a small milk white powerbook. I wonder why they chose that and not the tibook? To emphasize her small=town roots?

I think that now, sadly, the people who are thinking different are the people who are not buying Mac.

Mary (Mary), Sunday, 1 February 2004 23:12 (twenty years ago) link

SATC woman has a mac, as does tom cruise's character in mission impossible, and the world was saved with a mac on independence day.

Ed (dali), Sunday, 1 February 2004 23:15 (twenty years ago) link

PCs are Incorrect on TV

Mary (Mary), Sunday, 1 February 2004 23:22 (twenty years ago) link

So we're really buying computers just to keep up with the new operating systems, not the other way around.

Yes, true, but you might want to read this, though.

If that's an idea that truly bothers you, that's fine. *nix continues to exist to this day partially because of that reason. I highly suggest that you take advantage of the old laptop and convert it to Linux and/or use the Unix base of OS X (if you have it on that one) to run *nix programs.

And before you say that they are too difficult to learn, I will disclose that I haven't learned them either. Yet. But that's my problem and your problem - you can't blame Apple, Microsoft, Dell, et al for wanting to make profits by selling the same item to the same consumer repeatedly. If you really wanted to be freed from that cycle badly enough, you would learn *nixes (assuming that you don't already).

Girolamo Savonarola, Sunday, 1 February 2004 23:36 (twenty years ago) link

Here's the instructions to make a transparent iBook case.
http://www.kodawarisan.com/ug/iBook/clear/clear1.html

Sébastien Chikara (Sébastien Chikara), Sunday, 1 February 2004 23:44 (twenty years ago) link

The thing about the Macs being used in films and TV is that Macs happen to be what a majority of the people in the film and tv industry run, from pre-production through to post (now that FCP is gaining momentum). People like Roger Avary, for example, don't have Apple asking them to place their products in the screen - the filmmakers themselves are very often Mac addicts who are showing their support. I'm not saying that Apple hasn't ever paid for placement, but I honestly believe that those who are fierce Mac lovers and happen to be in a position to choose which computers are being used by which characters will often pick Macs out of love, not money. Although I suppose it is a good argument to hit Apple up for money and/or free product, too...nothing wrong with that...

Girolamo Savonarola, Sunday, 1 February 2004 23:44 (twenty years ago) link

think differentLY argghghghrgrhgrhgrhrghrghrghrg

tokyo rosemary (rosemary), Monday, 2 February 2004 02:19 (twenty years ago) link

Can anyone defend the genius bar? Next they will be serving Starbucks mocha there as well.

Mary (Mary), Monday, 2 February 2004 03:33 (twenty years ago) link

There's an apple ad near the end of the liner notes of Limp Bizkit's Results May Vary. The entire booklet uses Apple font and on the page opposite Fred's Thank Yous is a poem about how the rebels, the outcasts, those who think differently, change the world. And there's a little apple logo.

Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 2 February 2004 03:38 (twenty years ago) link

Frankly, I think this might have been an unpaid endorsement, like how he notes that he "slips on his headphones/listens to the Deftones" on one track.

Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 2 February 2004 03:39 (twenty years ago) link

oh and it's OLD SCHOOL mac font, like in gabbeb's pic. You know Fred kicks it old school.

Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 2 February 2004 03:44 (twenty years ago) link

Now does anyone else wanna say Apple hasn't jumped the shark?

Bryan (Bryan), Monday, 2 February 2004 03:53 (twenty years ago) link

Anybody opening a 40 MB image file on *any* kind of portable is out of their minds!

I do this routinely on my PowerBook. But I also have a GB of RAM in it.

Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Monday, 2 February 2004 09:00 (twenty years ago) link

Are either of the big screenwriting programs (Fi*al Draft, Scre*nwriter2k) widely available over BitTorrent?

I haven't seen them specifically on Torrent, but FD gets posted all the time to alt.binaries.mac.applications.

Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Monday, 2 February 2004 09:10 (twenty years ago) link

http://grunk.ath.cx/mt/images/Bolkovr.jpg

Mary (Mary), Monday, 2 February 2004 09:37 (twenty years ago) link

someone told me that the fight scene in the 'cripple fight' episode of south park was closely based on that fight scene in they live! .

cinniblount (James Blount), Monday, 2 February 2004 09:43 (twenty years ago) link

Ed,
Are macs still cheap in the states at the moment?
What would be the best thing to do when considering buying.
I want a 12" G4 aluminium powerbook, any spec. ~£500-600.

Willdabeast, Monday, 2 February 2004 12:45 (twenty years ago) link

I can't find anywhere in North America willing to ship to europe... Is there an import/export ban on certain electrical goods?

Nathan W (Nathan Webb), Monday, 2 February 2004 14:24 (twenty years ago) link

orbit i have had just about all the fee warez my heart desires via Limewire.

jed_ (jed), Monday, 2 February 2004 19:51 (twenty years ago) link

fee?

s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 2 February 2004 19:52 (twenty years ago) link

From the Apple Web site: Oh, one other minor detail, you can choose your iPod mini in one of five trend-setting colors: silver, gold, green, pink or blue. (All shiny.)

I wonder why you can't choose your iPod or your iBook in a "trend-setting color" . . .

It's not like any cell phones are using white hardware, why does Mac favor it?

Mary (Mary), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 07:27 (twenty years ago) link

I don't like the shiny metal new ipod colours.

s1ocki (slutsky), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 07:29 (twenty years ago) link

Maybe this packaging predicts Mac's eventual return to the darkside:

http://www.macpoint.it/PICS/ARTICOLI/Panther-box200.jpg

Mary (Mary), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 07:33 (twenty years ago) link

colour is far too baroque, shiny metal, white and black are the true path of modernism.

Ed (dali), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 08:35 (twenty years ago) link

cpu-noire

Orbit (Orbit), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 08:44 (twenty years ago) link

The colors wouldn't be so bad if they didn't pick such ugly colors. That green makes me wish I was dead just to avoid living in a world where such a shade exists.

Allyzay, Wednesday, 4 February 2004 14:42 (twenty years ago) link

Great, I finally get one, and now all I hear is "they've jumped the shark" etc. etc. etc. which is perhaps worse than having a mullet.

But I'd just like to say I HAD MY FIRST APPLE BEFORE SOME OF YOU WERE EVEN BORN!!! Grrrrr.

I'd also like to say, don't order yours from J&R Computer World. They take WAAAAAYYYYYY too long to ship. 1-2 days? My ass! Knew I should have ordered it direct from Apple.

the river fleet, Wednesday, 4 February 2004 15:28 (twenty years ago) link

Oh, the green is beautiful! It looks so nice & minty pale in the photos on the apple site.

lyra (lyra), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 17:01 (twenty years ago) link

I ordered my iPod directly from Apple, and it took them forever to send it, and I had accidentally given them the wrong address (I had just moved, and my old address was in their system and I didn't catch it), and they wouldn't let me correct it with FedEx (or Airborne, I forget), so it would have to be sent BACK to the Apple werehouse and then be sent again, so I said "screw it", cancelled the order, and went to my local shop and bought it. Fortunately Apple let me cancel without a problem, but wow, wow did it take forever for them to ship. (Or for it to get through customs, actually.)

Casuistry (Chris P), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 17:51 (twenty years ago) link

I didn't respond to this upthread, but why is having demonstrations on how to use iPhoto and the genius bar an 'embarassment'? I think having free demos on how to use software is neat, and how can you argue with employing a staff of experts (or near-experts, anyway)?

I'm excited for the San Francisco Apple store to finally open. They tore down an existing building and are building a new one custom for it.

Sean (Sean), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 17:58 (twenty years ago) link

I'm having the same issue right now. I ordered it Sunday, but late so it probably wasn't processed til Monday. The issue is, of course, that I'm moving this weekend and effectively have two addresses. I ask them to ship it to the one I'm at right now and ask for the expedited shipping and voila it's still not going to get here on time. WTF? It was listed as "ships next day" on the website. Where are they shipping them from, anyway? The Fed Ex website says somewhere in "TW", Taiwan?? Don't they have a place to ship them from here?

Long and the short of it being that I'm moving this weekend but will have to spend Sunday night on the frigging floor of my old apt because Fed Ex claims they'll deliver it quite early on Monday, instead of by Friday, which is what the website promised when I paid for expedited shipping.

Allyzay, Wednesday, 4 February 2004 18:00 (twenty years ago) link

Shark jump.

El Spinktor (El Spinktor), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 18:00 (twenty years ago) link

This is when I realize I saved myself a lot of bother by having the luck to have an Apple Store right down the road from where I lived (at the time) when I got my iPod.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 18:01 (twenty years ago) link

Im still using my teal Rio500. Im not willing to go as high-dollar as the iPod. I just throw a 512Mb flash card in there and thats more than enough music for me anyway. 576Mb total of music is more than enough for me. And a couple hundred dollars less.

El Spinktor (El Spinktor), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 18:03 (twenty years ago) link

If it's Taiwan then yeah, you might have to factor in a few extra days of "customs".

Casuistry (Chris P), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 18:05 (twenty years ago) link

Spinktor OTM, I don't care who hates me for saying this: iPods are overpriced toys and I immediately assume any stranger I see on the train fiddling with one is an asshole.

Re: the Taiwan thing, then they shouldn't say they can ship in the manner they claim on their website. If that had been clearly stated, then I wouldn't have A) paid extra B) would've had it shipped to new address. That all being said, even with all this fucking hassle, it's still faster than Dell could've shipped my computer FROM the United States, wtf?

Allyzay, Wednesday, 4 February 2004 18:08 (twenty years ago) link

My girlfriend has the Neuros linux-based HD-player with the FM-transmitter built in. Thats pretty cool. But transferring 20GB of music isnt that cool. Id rather just burn a bunch of mp3's to a CD and put it in a compatible player. Faster, and easier in my opinion. Nowadays CDplayers dont skip much anyway.

The iPod is definately cool though. Just overkill for me.

El Spinktor (El Spinktor), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 18:13 (twenty years ago) link

i woulda never bought one if i didnt' get it so cheap

s1ocki (slutsky), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 18:39 (twenty years ago) link

Someone upthread pined after a pink computer. Someone who knows how to post pictures (i.e., not me) should post the lovely pink alienware gaming computer. Very, very pink.

quincie, Wednesday, 4 February 2004 18:59 (twenty years ago) link

http://www.exonome.com/fj/phkl/open.jpg

gygax! (gygax!), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 19:05 (twenty years ago) link

wow.

that pink ibook was awesome too.

s1ocki (slutsky), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 19:08 (twenty years ago) link

i like coloured plastic better than coloured metal.

s1ocki (slutsky), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 19:08 (twenty years ago) link

That hello kitty mouse has blown my mind. Now post the alienware machine! It is pink and scary, too!

quincie, Wednesday, 4 February 2004 19:13 (twenty years ago) link

WHOA

s1ocki (slutsky), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 19:28 (twenty years ago) link

I'm not sure I could sleep at night with that thing in my house.

quincie, Wednesday, 4 February 2004 19:30 (twenty years ago) link

All that pink for only three grand!

quincie, Wednesday, 4 February 2004 19:30 (twenty years ago) link

note that it glows pink under the grills too.

Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 19:34 (twenty years ago) link

also, their base system is about $1800.

Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 19:36 (twenty years ago) link

I suggested to Ally that she get an Alienware laptop. Their coolest feature other than the crazy colours is the upgradeable video card. Nice but pricy.

Bryan (Bryan), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 19:38 (twenty years ago) link

Ed, isn't Eames modernist? I thought bold, primary colors were modernist? I see the aluminumbook as more minimalist--like a mid-90s Calvin Klein ad. CK1.

Sean, the words genius and bar do not belong together. (Plus the the dude there really couldn't answer my question.) My problem with the lecture hall is that while I am simply trying to mill around the store unbothered, I am bothered by a feisty presenter in apple T-shirt with a headset booming her information pitch all over the store. It creates a carnival-esque atmosphere that isn;t conduive to examining the new products.

New colors: the green is really bad, but not as bad as the beige though. I think the pink, blue and silver are ok.

Kate, don't worry, this is mostly jealousy on my part because I can't afford one of these one of these new "jumped-the-shark" items.

My family's first (and last for a long time) was a PC Junior. Did that model SUCK? Or did we just get a lemon?

Mary (Mary), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 20:05 (twenty years ago) link

bold primary colours are modernist, anodised pastels are baroque

Ed (dali), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 20:06 (twenty years ago) link

I think Alienware has some weird chameleon paint scheme that changes based on heat and ambient light. Trippy dude, it reminds me of an old GI Joe toy.

Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 20:07 (twenty years ago) link

http://www.myperfume.com/perfume/ck/ckone.jpg

Mary (Mary), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 20:10 (twenty years ago) link

Im all about some Alienware, all except for the price. Good machines...but they have a problem with AMD for some reason. They picked up the recent Athlon64 which is nice...too bad they are so damn expensive.

I dont like laptops because you cant open them up and switch shit. Well, you can...but you know what im saying. I progressively cycle out old pieces...my macheen is everchanging.

El Spinktor (El Spinktor), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 22:34 (twenty years ago) link

Im going to mod my old computer with a 16" woofer as a side panel, a smoke-machine coming out of one of the drive bays, and a bunch of strobe lights and LAZORS. Its going to be the ultimate rave computer.

El Spinktor (El Spinktor), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 22:36 (twenty years ago) link

You'll be the flyest dorkwad on the whole block.

Allyzay, Wednesday, 4 February 2004 23:48 (twenty years ago) link

That maribou trim laptop is amazing. heh.

I am remembering now how one of the old powerbooks from 1996ish (late model 5300??), in some versions, came with a clear plastic panel on the back of the screen which you could snap off & put your own custom decoration under & snap back on. It shipped with 4 or 5 printed pieces of paper to stick under there with various abstract patterns. A friend of mine had one & swapped the decoration almost daily, since it was just paper.

lyra (lyra), Thursday, 5 February 2004 04:22 (twenty years ago) link

two weeks pass...
The remedy? Colorware

Mary (Mary), Friday, 20 February 2004 01:49 (twenty years ago) link

one month passes...
Another Genuis Bar Detractor: "A Thin Line Between Apple’s ‘Genius Bar’ and Insanity" by Glenn O'Brien in the New York Observer -- http://www.observer.com/index_go.html

Mary (Mary), Wednesday, 24 March 2004 08:01 (twenty years ago) link

nine months pass...
Im going to mod my old computer with a 16" woofer as a side panel, a smoke-machine coming out of one of the drive bays, and a bunch of strobe lights and LAZORS. Its going to be the ultimate rave computer.

Did this ever happen???

Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Tuesday, 18 January 2005 08:13 (nineteen years ago) link


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