#263284 - 31/08/2005 19:30
Re: Mac Mini as a TV-room media player
[Re: Roger]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/07/1999
Posts: 5549
Loc: Ajijic, Mexico
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Alt+F, W, F.
Only from within "Windows Explorer" or "My Computer" If you are out "on the desktop" so to speak, I don't think you can create a new folder without using the mouse.
tanstaafl.
_________________________
"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"
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#263285 - 31/08/2005 19:35
Re: Mac Mini as a TV-room media player
[Re: tanstaafl.]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12338
Loc: Sterling, VA
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Quote:
If you are out "on the desktop" so to speak, I don't think you can create a new folder without using the mouse.
Quote:
Or: Press the context menu key (that one between the right-hand Windows key and the right-hand Ctrl key). W, F.
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Matt
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#263286 - 31/08/2005 19:45
Re: Mac Mini as a TV-room media player
[Re: Dignan]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/07/1999
Posts: 5549
Loc: Ajijic, Mexico
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Or: Press the context menu key (that one between the right-hand Windows key and the right-hand Ctrl key). W, F.
Ummm... I have some little difficulty doing that... 
And, yes, I have macros programmed into every one of those programmable keys!
tanstaafl.
Attachments
263803-mck142.jpg (406 downloads)
Edited by tanstaafl. (31/08/2005 19:51)
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#263287 - 31/08/2005 19:53
Re: Mac Mini as a TV-room media player
[Re: tanstaafl.]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12338
Loc: Sterling, VA
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That makes sense  It appears that your only other option in that case is Shift+F10. Let me be the first one to say that that is an awkward keystroke I'm sure this has probably been posted before, but I haven't really thought about how long it is. I'll have to look through those sometime to see if there are any that I might want to use... I'm still annoyed that I can't bring up my start menu at home with a middle-button mouseclick.
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Matt
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#263288 - 01/09/2005 01:19
Re: Mac Mini as a TV-room media player
[Re: Dignan]
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addict
Registered: 10/11/2000
Posts: 497
Loc: Utah, USA
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Tony said: Quote:
Was wondering what the keyboard option to open that folder was
On the Mac, besides Cmd-O, you can also do Cmd-down arrow.
Dignan said:Quote:
I'm still annoyed that I can't bring up my start menu at home with a middle-button mouseclick.
Tried Ctrl-Esc?
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-Aaron
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#263289 - 01/09/2005 03:31
Re: Mac Mini as a TV-room media player
[Re: adavidw]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12338
Loc: Sterling, VA
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Quote:
Dignan said:Quote:
I'm still annoyed that I can't bring up my start menu at home with a middle-button mouseclick.
Tried Ctrl-Esc?
Yeah, long story. I had a long thread about it a while ago. Basically Logitech took the option out of their software. It was there in Mouseware, not in Setpoint. Ctrl+Esc can't be entered because Esc escapes out of the configuration window. Oh well. I think people are working on user-made addons.
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Matt
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#263290 - 01/09/2005 14:40
Re: Mac Mini as a TV-room media player
[Re: drakino]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12338
Loc: Sterling, VA
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Quote:
Well, you could always test drive a Mac Mini for 30 days and return it if you don't like it.
Well, that idea is out. That's a shame.
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Matt
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#263291 - 08/09/2005 06:47
Re: Mac Mini as a TV-room media player
[Re: tfabris]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31597
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Okay, here's another question. Some menu items show me that I can use a keyboard shortcut to open them. For instance, here in Safari, the keyboard shortcut for "Reload Page" is swizzlestick-R. Dunno what the real name for the four-leaf-clover symbol is, I call it swizzlestick. Sue me. Anyway... Some of the menu items have another shortcut symbol to the left of the swizzlestick thingy. It looks kind of like this: Code:
_ _
\_
What the heck key is that? I don't see one labeled that on my keyboard.
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#263292 - 08/09/2005 07:38
Re: Mac Mini as a TV-room media player
[Re: tfabris]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 23/08/2000
Posts: 3826
Loc: SLC, UT, USA
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That's the symbol for the Option key. Think of it as the Alt key on PCs.
PS... the swizlestick is called the command key, or apple key (technically the OPEN apple key... ahh remember the days of the open AND closed apple keys?)
PPS... RTFHD... in the Finder type cmd-? and in the search box type "symbols special keys". You should get a help entry that shows all the command key symbols. The Mac Help docs are pretty amazing and have tons of info... give 'em a search! There's even entries on full keyboard control.
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#263293 - 08/09/2005 08:26
Re: Mac Mini as a TV-room media player
[Re: loren]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/06/1999
Posts: 7868
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Quote:
or apple key (technically the OPEN apple key... ahh remember the days of the open AND closed apple keys?)
I still get strange looks when I call it open apple when I'm at my local Mac reseller. Guess I haven't moved on from that term yet, even though a shop selling Apple hardware since resellers existed has moved on.
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#263294 - 08/09/2005 13:32
Re: Mac Mini as a TV-room media player
[Re: drakino]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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Ah, Open Apple-Ctrl-Reset. The first three-finger salute.
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Bitt Faulk
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#263295 - 08/09/2005 18:24
Re: Mac Mini as a TV-room media player
[Re: loren]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31597
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Quote:
That's the symbol for the Option key. Think of it as the Alt key on PCs.
My keyboard has both an Option and and Alt key. If I remember correctly (it's upstairs and I'm not), they're two different things.
So if the menu shortcut says
-\_ <clover> W
Should I be pressing ALT CLOVER W or should I be pression OPTION CLOVER W?
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#263296 - 08/09/2005 18:27
Re: Mac Mini as a TV-room media player
[Re: tfabris]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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Does your "Option" key not have the -\_ thing on it? Regardless, -\_ is Option, Cloverleaf is Command, and Alt is Alt.
Edit: Or does Option also say Alt on it? I think it might. Regardless, -\_ is Option and Cloverleaf is Command. I don't think I've ever heard anyone talk about Alt with Macs.
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Bitt Faulk
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#263297 - 08/09/2005 19:22
Re: Mac Mini as a TV-room media player
[Re: wfaulk]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 23/08/2000
Posts: 3826
Loc: SLC, UT, USA
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On most mac keyboards, the option key also has alt written on it.
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#263298 - 08/09/2005 20:44
Re: Mac Mini as a TV-room media player
[Re: loren]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31597
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Ah. I was getting "control" and "option" mixed up.
Yeah, the three keys to the left of my space bar are, in order from left to right:
1. Control
2. Alt Option (no symbol)
3. Aplle Cloverleaf.
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#263299 - 09/09/2005 00:53
Re: Mac Mini as a TV-room media player
[Re: tfabris]
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old hand
Registered: 15/02/2002
Posts: 1049
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The cloverleaf is called the "Command" key, and its use is pronounced "Command R", or whatever.
FWIW,
Jim
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#263300 - 16/09/2005 06:19
IM Clients
[Re: tfabris]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31597
Loc: Seattle, WA
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So what's the best all-in-one Instant Messenger client for OS X?
I googled a few, but they all seem to have limitations compared to Trillian. One says it won't do IRC except through redirection from a Jabber server or some such. Another says it won't allow multiple different account connections to the same network. Another requires that I install and X Windows server onto OS X in order to work.
Anyone have preferences?
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#263301 - 16/09/2005 08:02
Re: IM Clients
[Re: tfabris]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 13/07/2000
Posts: 4180
Loc: Cambridge, England
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Quote:
Anyone have preferences?
I use Gaim on Linux and Windows, but I suspect that's the one you refer to as needing an X server. Gaim's own FAQ refers people made nervous by this, to Adium.
Peter
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#263302 - 16/09/2005 09:56
Re: IM Clients
[Re: tfabris]
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addict
Registered: 05/05/2000
Posts: 623
Loc: Cambridge
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I use proteus. It's the prettiest of the lot and has some nice features which has lead to it gaining a reputation for putting new features over fixing bugs, but it was taken over by new developers a year or so ago and it has become very stable. There's no IRC support that I'm aware of, but it supports more or less every IM network and does allow multiple accounts for the same network. http://www.defaultware.com/proteus/
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#263303 - 16/09/2005 11:44
Re: IM Clients
[Re: peter]
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old hand
Registered: 07/01/2005
Posts: 893
Loc: Sector ZZ9pZa
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A second vote for Adium from me. I find its quite well thought out and a nice balance of configurability and simplicity. You get nice message notifications if you install Growl alongside it. Plus, its based on libgaim, so there are many network plugins around and its fairly stable.
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#263304 - 16/09/2005 11:56
Re: IM Clients
[Re: tfabris]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 27/06/1999
Posts: 7058
Loc: Pittsburgh, PA
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Adium is the king. I highly recommend the Strong Bad icon/sound sets.
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#263305 - 16/09/2005 12:22
Re: IM Clients
[Re: tfabris]
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enthusiast
Registered: 18/02/2002
Posts: 335
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I was thinking about using a mini to do something similar and have a few questions. I spent about thirty minutes drooling over a mini the other day and im thinking about buying one.
Can you let us know what you ended up running resolution wise? Were you able to get 16:9 resolution? What type of tv set is this? Is there something that can do dvd streaming with menus over SMB ?
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#263306 - 16/09/2005 13:41
Re: IM Clients
[Re: tonyc]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 23/08/2000
Posts: 3826
Loc: SLC, UT, USA
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Ditto for Adium, but for video and audio chat iChat is pretty damned amazing.
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#263307 - 16/09/2005 17:19
Re: IM Clients
[Re: eliceo]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31597
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Thanks, everyone, for your suggestions. I shall try Proteus first, because multiple accounts per service is critical to me (more so than IRC for the mac. I don't necessarily need IRC in the living room).
Now, to answer eliceo:
Quote:
Can you let us know what you ended up running resolution wise? Were you able to get 16:9 resolution?
Yes, I am running the native 16:9 resolution of the panel, 1366x768. It works and looks perfect.
The catch is: I tried getting that resolution from the analog VGA connector, and couldn't, even with using a third-party utility to set custom resolutions and refresh rates. The only way I could get the mac to properly feed the TV at its native resolution was to use the digital DVI connection to the TV set. Then everything just worked perfectly with no futzing.
The irony is, the reason I didn't do that in the first place was because I had the Tivo hooked up to the DVI connector. And the Tivo had its own set of problems with the DVI connection that were making me mad. Simply switching the Tivo the component connector solved all THOSE problems too, and the quality is fine. So I killed two birds with one stone by switching the Mac to the DVI connector.
Quote:
What type of tv set is this?
I wanted a different one, couldn't get it, and had to settle for a Polaroid 32" flat-panel LCD. I don't remember the model number, but it was only about $1600.00.
Quote:
Is there something that can do dvd streaming with menus over SMB ?
I don't know about DVD streaming specifically, but I a) Would just shove the disc in the slot on the front of the mac and up comes the mac DVD player, and b) don't use the mac to watch DVDs anyway because I compared picture quality with the stand-alone DVD player, and I liked the look of the stand-alone DVD player better.
The main thing I discovered was that trying to get certain sorts of media playing in Mac Quicktime was a PITA, so I just gave up and installed MPlayer, and now I'm happy as a clam and can play essentially any video format. I'm sure that there's a player (perhaps even quicktime, the mac DVD player, or Mplayer) that'll play the DVD VOB files directly across the network if that's what you want. I've never tried it, the only media files I play are Divx and Quicktime and such.
Oh, and one other trick:
I couldn't get any sound out of MacMAME. Didn't know why. Turns out that you need to go into the main system control panel and set the MIDI synthesizer sampling rate to 44.1khz instead of 96khz which is the default. Just wanted to put that out there in case anyone else is getting a Mini.
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#263308 - 16/09/2005 17:25
Re: IM Clients
[Re: tfabris]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 27/06/1999
Posts: 7058
Loc: Pittsburgh, PA
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Quote:
because multiple accounts per service is critical to me
Adium supports multiple accounts per service, FWIW.
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#263309 - 16/09/2005 17:32
Re: IM Clients
[Re: eliceo]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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Quote:
Is there something that can do dvd streaming with menus over SMB?
Have you tried VLC? It doesn't use SMB (and I'm inclined to say that SMB's a bad choice for that anyway), but it does claim to support streaming DVDs. I'm not sure if it does menus, but it's worth a shot.
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Bitt Faulk
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#263310 - 16/09/2005 17:56
Re: IM Clients
[Re: tfabris]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/06/1999
Posts: 7868
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Another vote for Adium here as well. I used to use Proteus (version 2-4), but got tired of the problems with it and moved to Adium 0.80. Managed to keep all my history with a Proteus to Adium converter, and now since Adium keeps each chat session as a separate file, I can search for things via spotlight.
IRC, I use X-Chat Aqua. Works identically to X-Chat, but adds a few Aqua interface specific things.
Most multi IM programs on the Mac don't include IRC, or they do a poor job of it. Jabber conference room support in Adium isn't all that great either currently, but plans are in place to make it better for 0.90.
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#263311 - 16/09/2005 18:04
Re: IM Clients
[Re: tfabris]
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enthusiast
Registered: 18/02/2002
Posts: 335
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I can play vobs over smb right now. What I would really like is a way to play dvds with menu support using DVD-->HDMI input. Im surprised that the mac didnt look better than a regular dvd player especially when using DVI. Hrmm. On the other hand wireless stuff on my tv would be sweet too.
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#263312 - 16/09/2005 18:05
Re: IM Clients
[Re: wfaulk]
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enthusiast
Registered: 18/02/2002
Posts: 335
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I'll check that out when I get home. Why do you think SMB is a bad choice?
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#263313 - 16/09/2005 18:09
Re: IM Clients
[Re: eliceo]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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It's neither a high-throughput filesystem nor responsive to sluggishness.
That is, a system that is designed to stream video will respond to congestion or other slowness by lowering quality. Reading a file directly from a normal network filesystem is going to skip and jerk and pause and otherwise screw up when something bad happens, which it will.
I guess what I'm saying is that for a DVD player app, you don't really care about every little piece of data. If you miss a few, it's not so bad. You want it to keep progressing in real time through the media. On the other hand, SMB is going to try to get you every bit of data, in order, no matter how long it takes, and no matter if that one bit halfway through is going to take three hours, blocking the rest. (Obviously, the app could do more random file access than that, but something like WiMP isn't going to.)
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Bitt Faulk
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