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With regard to living in a basement ...

Displaying poll results.
I have never lived in a basement.
  11633 votes / 38%
Haven't lived in a basement for years.
  6360 votes / 21%
I currently live in my parents' basement.
  1186 votes / 3%
I live in a basement, but it's not my parents'.
  1170 votes / 3%
Thinking about moving back.
  1612 votes / 5%
We don't have basements around here!
  8025 votes / 26%
29986 total votes.
[ Voting Booth | Other Polls | Back Home ]
  • Don't complain about lack of options. You've got to pick a few when you do multiple choice. Those are the breaks.
  • Feel free to suggest poll ideas if you're feeling creative. I'd strongly suggest reading the past polls first.
  • This whole thing is wildly inaccurate. Rounding errors, ballot stuffers, dynamic IPs, firewalls. If you're using these numbers to do anything important, you're insane.
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With regard to living in a basement ...

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  • Basements (Score:5, Funny)

    by Cazakatari (1403081) on Monday June 22, 2009 @05:43PM (#28430487)

    Living in basements is for poor college students and nerds. Oh wait, I'm both......

    • by gmhowell (26755) <gmhowell@gmail.com> on Monday June 22, 2009 @07:25PM (#28432095) Homepage Journal

      It's also for those hosed in a divorce.

      • by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 22, 2009 @08:54PM (#28433213)

        You have a basement? All I had after my divorce was a hole in the ground covered by a sheet of tarpaulin ...

        • by SoVeryTired (967875) on Monday June 22, 2009 @08:59PM (#28433271)

          A hole? I would have killed for a hole! After my divorce, it was me and six other deadbeat dads taking shelter under a public urinal...

          • by socceroos (1374367) on Monday June 22, 2009 @09:56PM (#28433821)
            Public urinal? After my divorce, all I had was my undies and a nest in the local swamp.
            • by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 23, 2009 @01:15AM (#28435367)

              A Swamp!? HA!
              Back in my day, when a guy got divorced he got booted naked into a desert and told to run for his life from a hoard of hungry scorpions!

              • by taucross (1330311) on Tuesday June 23, 2009 @05:54AM (#28436821)
                Scorpions! Ha! Back in my day we would've killed for a scorpion chase. Instead, we had to stay with the bitch!
                • by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 23, 2009 @07:04AM (#28437165)
                  You win the "Worst Divorce Outcome Award" - it's a bottle of vodka.
                • Re:Basements (Score:5, Insightful)

                  by cayenne8 (626475) on Tuesday June 23, 2009 @12:38PM (#28441629) Homepage Journal
                  "Scorpions! Ha! Back in my day we would've killed for a scorpion chase. Instead, we had to stay with the bitch!"

                  Yeah, but you try to tell that to the single guys today who are thinking of getting married....and they won't believe you!

                  • by couchslug (175151) on Wednesday June 24, 2009 @05:15AM (#28450601)

                    [quote]Yeah, but you try to tell that to the single guys today who are thinking of getting married....and they won't believe you! [/quote]

                    But, but she MUST be the one for me. She has pulse AND respiration!

        • Divorce in Canada (Score:3, Interesting)

          by B4RSK (626870)

          I can tell you that if I was still living in Canada I would be a confirmed bachelor. It's unbelievable how badly divorce laws are stacked against men now. :(

          Men should unite and refuse to marry until things get fixed.

      • by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 23, 2009 @06:34AM (#28437021)

        I always wonder if getting sued in a divorce is purely American thing? I see it in TV series and hear people on the Internet talking about it but where I live (Northern Europe), I never see it in real life.

        When my parents got divorced, they argued a lot about who should get what (which ended up with my mother owning 75% of the apartment and paying for the last 25% to my father because they made a deal that she would pay for my living expenses, etc.) and I have distant memory that my mother might have even called a lawyer by phone and asked for legal advice but courts weren't involved.

        Several of my friends have also divorced parents (I'm college student so don't have much friends who would have divorced themselves) but I've heard of legal battles in none of those.

        Even more absurd seem to be the legal battles of if the other parent can meet the child. In several cases I've heard that someone lives with his mother after the divorce and goes to live with his father on the weekends or - with older children - lives with whichever parent and meets the other parent whenever he wishes to. But all such arrangements have always been just agreements, I've never heard that courts would have gotten involved.

        Don't get me wrong. I realize that of course, there must be some times when Europeans bring divorces to court. Especially among the wealthier population. However, it just seems extremely rare from the limited sample that I've seen.

        So which is it? Is my sample simply too small? Do europeans take these things to court less often? Or is it infact so that Americans also don't usually take divorces to lawyers and courts but those small part who do get all the attention?

        • by hesiod (111176) on Tuesday June 23, 2009 @07:48AM (#28437493)

          I see it in TV series and hear people on the Internet talking about it

          There's your problem: Television is fake or about arrogant rich people, and nothing on the Internet is true... including this post.

        • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

          It's because you only hear about the outliers. Most divorces I've known of (and my wife and I are considering a rather weird one! (*) go quickly and easily. I have only known of one with the classic "battling lawyers in court" scenario. Here in Minnesota, we pioneered Collaborative Divorce in which the point is to avoid fighting and the lawyers sign an agreement that they must withdraw if the parties want to go to court.

          (*) As far as my own situation goes, my wife and I will (probably) get divorced, but we

          • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

            by dfenstrate (202098)

            Simply put, we want to be together, but we independently figured out that the concept of "marriage" changed us both too much and for the worse.

            So, instead of fixing the individual character defects that cause both of you to respond negatively to the official, public commitment of marriage, you're just going to get a divorce.

            Got it.

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          Americans are pretty quick to involve a lawyer in anything they do because they're afraid that if they don't the other party will.
        • by jd2112 (1535857) on Tuesday June 23, 2009 @06:10PM (#28446977)
          Lawyers get half, wife gets half and the husband gets the rest.
      • by JWSmythe (446288) <jwsmythe@@@jwsmythe...com> on Wednesday June 24, 2009 @11:29AM (#28454079) Homepage Journal

        Nah, you're suppose to get the spare room with a friend that she didn't get as part of the divorce. Good luck though, she'll get the house, car, dog, your clothes, your dignity, and probably your future earnings for the rest of your life.

            The better option is to quit your job, move to another country and work under an assumed name. Be careful never to tell anyone who you were, or ever answer to the old name should someone call you by it. "Hey John!", and a positive answer mean you'll have to start over again, or other more serious problems. I strongly recommend picking up the local accent quickly, and then moving to another city where you're close enough for the accent to apply, but far enough where no one from the first place will recognize you. I hear Istanbul [wunderground.com] is beautiful this time of year. Just be careful not to make friends with any Islamic extremists, or you may find yourself renditioned to a non-existent prison where they'll likely get you to admit your real name and nationality. As they're waterboarding you, you'll likely admit to anything they want. Of course, you'll need to become very familiar with Islam, as 99.8% of the country is Muslim. Remember to blend in well, or you'll get caught or killed (or both). Your new name is Enis Yilmaz. You will find under your chair an envelope containing your new passport, a one way plane ticket, and enough local currency to purchase new clothes and accommodations for two months. After that, you are on your own. Get a boring quiet job where you don't interact with a lot of people, and living accommodations where you will interact with as few people as possible.

            This daily life reminder comes as a public service of the JWSmythe Secure Relocation Services, a division of JWSmythe, Inc, a wholly owned subsidiary of JWSmythe Enterprises, Inc, a non-existent company. JWSmythe's images, trademark, and bogus statements are entirely created by JWSmythe, Inc a fictitious company owned by a fictitious person.

            Have a nice day.

  • Subject! (Score:4, Funny)

    by Ihmhi (1206036) <i_have_mental_health_issues@yahoo.com> on Monday June 22, 2009 @05:44PM (#28430511)

    The closest I ever came to living in a basement was spending New Year's at a friend's cabin.

    The first floor was really epic, but below it was the "basement". A game room with a wood stove, throw rugs, and sliding glass doors going out to a lake.

    It woulda been way more fun if it wasn't the dead of Winter and snowing like a Columbian drug smuggling plane blew up overhead.

  • I never lived in the basement but spent most of my time in the garage when I still lived at home. I had a desk and a couple of computers setup in the corner along with a couch. We lived in a townhouse so no one seemed to notice when I had a few friends over late at night to geek out and look at cool winamp plugins while blazed. :-P

  • "I miss my basement" (Score:3, Interesting)

    by The Yuckinator (898499) on Monday June 22, 2009 @05:48PM (#28430589)
    I miss my old basement. It was so dark and dusty, "Surfing" at 2400bps. Sigh, it was nice when my biggest worry was whether I would manage to get some BBS time or if I would get busy signals all night long.
  • I know not a single house that has a basement. Subsequently, our nerds-in-training escape their cages (homes) fairly frequently and we have to deal with them in awkward social situations fairly regularly (see: silicon valley).
    • by maglor_83 (856254) on Monday June 22, 2009 @06:33PM (#28431379)

      I've never even SEEN a basement (Australia). Anybody know why they're common in some areas but not others?

      • by iamhigh (1252742)

        Anybody know why they're common in some areas but not others?

        I know that the ground is very important (that seems obvious as I type it). If you have solid rock a foot below the ground (some parts of the south do, I know) it isn't economical to build one. If you have extremely wet soil, you might run into issues with structure and leaks.

        • by xjimhb (234034)

          Well, I am currently living in the southEAST US, central Florida, and NOBODY around here has basements. Just too wet and sandy, plus hurricanes and such. The last house I was in (NY Hudson Valley region) had a basement, a FULL basement, but I couldn't begin to tell you what it was full of! At one point we did have someone living in the basement.

          And for a while I had my computer set up down there, it was nice and private. But when we decided to sell and move down here to FL, my wife made me move the computer

          • I really wish I had a basement here

            Where I live you can buy underground water tanks, which gets me thinking about ways to create extra living space.

      • by Squarewav (241189)

        It's mostly a cost issue. Basements generally require a lot of brick and cement to avoid damage from water, bugs and animals. People not like to live in basements, so rather then spend the money on one that will only be used for storage they make the houses 2 stories for less money with more living space.

        Most of the basements I've seen were of the walk-out kind that were built on a hill. As well as much older houses built before central heat and air were common as the temperature underground is more stabl

      • by Swizec (978239) on Monday June 22, 2009 @08:04PM (#28432597) Homepage
        It's because people outside Europe build cheap houses made to be destroyed by a strong breeze, why this seems to be the fetish I will never understand as a European.

        In fact, it's been illegal to build a house that isn't brick+mortar (in some form) around these parts of Europe since the 18th century. Because such structures usually need a proper base to sit on people build basements because, fuck it, you're making a big hole anyway. Why not use the room for something useful.

        And yes, before you ask, even houses 2 meters away from the sea have basements. In fact, every single house in Venice probably has a basement of some sort. And someone replied in a comment that basements on solid rock are too expensive ... well I'll have you know I used to live in a house that sat directly atop solid rock and we had a basement. Some parts of it even had climable (to a 5 year old) rock filling half the room.
        • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

          by Anonymous Coward

          Basements are designed for the sole purpose of insulating against the freezing ground. The frost line varies by area climate. Here in the Northeastern US, basements descend about 6 feet (~2M) below the surface, though there is variation in older houses.

          Your insistence that it is illegal to build a non-brick/mortar house in Europe must mean that many of the new houses I have seen in Germany are illegal. They clearly had vinyl siding, which one would not use over brick and mortar.

          Wood is a convenient and inex

        • by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 23, 2009 @07:01AM (#28437151)

          Also, Europeans keep their daughters down there.

        • by Brandee07 (964634) on Tuesday June 23, 2009 @09:24AM (#28438559)
          You don't have many earthquakes in Europe, I guess. Brick + Mortar + Ground Shaky = Pile of Rubble
          • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

            by Abreu (173023)

            Well-made Brick and Mortar homes are earthquake-proof... And no, a flimsy sheetrock construction is not a good alternative.

            Trust me, I live in Mexico City and we learned that the hard way.

        • by myrdos2 (989497) on Tuesday June 23, 2009 @02:15PM (#28443351)
          Brick and mortar houses are very poorly insulated, and cost a small fortune to heat in winter. A few settlers built stone houses in Canada, and have horrendous heating bills.

          Stone has thermal mass, which means they can suck up heat during the day and radiate it back at night. But if it's cold both day and night, they're endlessly sucking up heat and radiating it outside.

          http://inpicenum.com/2007/03/05/the-myth-of-stone-walls-as-insulation/ [inpicenum.com]
      • by ptbarnett (159784) on Monday June 22, 2009 @08:33PM (#28432965)

        I've never even SEEN a basement (Australia). Anybody know why they're common in some areas but not others?

        In some parts of the US (i.e. the upper Midwest), the foundation must start below the frost line [wikipedia.org], to avoid frost heaving [wikipedia.org].

        Since the foundation is already that deep, you might as well use the space for something. It was typically used for food storage and a shelter against severe weather, but now it's common for the basement to be finished into a full-time living space.

      • I've never even SEEN a basement (Australia). Anybody know why they're common in some areas but not others?

        I'm in Victoria. A place I used to stay at on Mt Buller had a basement. It was unheated so it functioned as a cool room. You got there by opening a hatch in the middle of the living room and climbing down a vertical ladder. Made a big impression on me as a kid.

        Now that the cost of land is going up it might make sense in urban areas to have an extra storey below ground level. But I think it would just fill up with junk.

        One row of terrace houses near me in East Brunswick have a lower storey below ground l

  • by Moof123 (1292134) on Monday June 22, 2009 @05:51PM (#28430655)

    We used to have to get up a half hour before we went to bed, drink a cup of sulferic acid for breakfast, work 27 hours at mill, and our father would beat us to sleep with a broken bottle.

    • by camperdave (969942) on Monday June 22, 2009 @06:18PM (#28431085) Journal
      We used to have to get up a half hour before we went to bed, drink a cup of sulferic acid for breakfast, work 27 hours at mill, and our father would beat us to sleep with a broken bottle.
      ,br>Oooo! Look at me. I've got a father! La-di-da!
    • Pff, you had it easy! Our dad used to kill us every night before we went to bed!
    • by GaryOlson (737642)
      You got to sleep? We had to spend our non-working hours singing in the church choir and getting beat with good old-fashioned Catholic guilt.
    • by Barny (103770)

      You mixed the lines a bit...

      Right. I had to get up in the morning at ten o'clock at night, half an hour before I went to bed, eat a lump of cold poison, work twenty-nine hours a day down mill, and pay mill owner for permission to come to work, and when we got home, our Dad would kill us, and dance about on our graves singing "Hallelujah."

    • Said Al: (Score:5, Funny)

      by UncleTogie (1004853) on Monday June 22, 2009 @09:40PM (#28433669) Homepage Journal
      Let me tell you, sonny... Let me set you straight. You kids today ain't never had it rough. Always had everything handed to you on a silver plate, you lazy brats think nothing's good enough...

      Well, nobody ever drove me to school when it was ninety degrees below. We had to walk butt naked through forty miles of snow. Worked in the coal mine twenty two hours a day for just half a cent. Had to sell my internal organs just to pay the rent...

      When I was your age... When I was your age... When I was your age... When I was your age...

      Let me tell you something, you whiny little snot... There's something wrong with all you kids today.You just don't appreciate all the things you've got. We were hungry, broke and miserable, and we liked it better that way.

      There were seventy-three of us living in a cardboard box. All I got for Christmas was a lousy bag of rocks. Every night for dinner we had a big chunk of dirt. If we were really good we didn't get dessert...

      When I was your age... When I was your age... When I was your age... When I was your age...

      Didn't have no telephone, didn't have no fax machine. All we had was a couple of cans and a crummy piece of string. Didn't have no swimming pool when I was just a lad. Our neighbor's septic tank was the closest thing we had. Didn't have no dental floss had to use old rusty nails. Didn't have Nintendo, we just poured salt on snails. Didn't have no water bed, had to sleep on broken glass. Didn't have no lawnmower, we used our teeth to cut the grass.

      What's the matter now, sonny, you say you don't believe this junk? You think my story's wearin' kinda thin? I tell you one thing, I never was such a disrespectful punk. Back in my time, we had a thing called discipline.

      Dad would whup us every night till a quarter after twelve...then he'd get too tired and he'd make us whup ourselves. Then he'd chop me into pieces and play frisbee with my brain. And let me tell ya, Junior, you never heard me complain!

      When I was your age... When I was your age... When I was your age... When I was your age...
  • One thing I liked about the basement was the geothermal regulation it gave in a continental climate. In the hottest days of summer, you could rely on the earth to keep you cool and in the summer it was great insulation if you had a heat source.

    Also, it was easier to keep dark so I could sleep whenever I needed to with a blanket over the small window.
    • by Nossie (753694)

      "in the summer it was great insulation if you had a heat source."

      I'd hate to think what it was like in the winter :)

    • by Valdrax (32670)

      This is actually the main reason that I want an underground house. Who needs a basement when the entire house is a basement. Plus, you get to use your "roof" for extra yard space.

      • by Nutria (679911)

        This is actually the main reason that I want an underground house

        Sunlight is a Good Thing, and the view into the backyard with trees and bushes and birds and squirrels (and, at night, racoons, possum and occasional coyote) with the doors open to let in a fresh breeze is nice and peaceful. Very pastoral.

        And "green". No need to turn on the lights during the day.

    • Ditto. Though most of my unit is ground-level, my bedroom is below ground, with just a smear of stucco between me and the foundation, and it's delightfully cool in the summer. When all my friends and family complain about how they can't sleep at night because of the heat, I'm still using a big down comforter and a blanket.

  • I lived in a basement that used to be William IV's wine cellar. You could play football in the largest room. Eventually the rats drove us out; we thought they might eat the baby...
    • by Nutria (679911)

      Eventually the rats drove us out

      Traps? Poison? "Sticky paper"? Throwing out the garbage?

  • I used to live in a basement. But it was proudly my own.
  • Basement Studio (Score:5, Interesting)

    by EzInKy (115248) on Monday June 22, 2009 @06:33PM (#28431361)

    Basements are not just for living in, they also make decent studios. Using 3 guitars, a keyboard, a drum machine, and a computer my son created an album in his. And yes, I admit I'm biased but I think it turned out pretty damn well [youtube.com].

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Lisa: I've never heard of these bands, Mom, what kind of music do they play?

      Bart: Crap rock?

      Marge: No...

      Homer: Wuss rock?

      Marge: That's it!

      • by EzInKy (115248)

        Lisa: I've never heard of these bands, Mom, what kind of music do they play?

        Bart: Crap rock?

        Marge: No...

        Homer: Wuss rock?

        Marge: That's it!

        Hey, I linked to my favorite track because of the rock opera thing he was shooting for, try this one [youtube.com] for something a little less "wuss".

  • by Haoie (1277294) on Monday June 22, 2009 @06:37PM (#28431463) Homepage

    Become such a social stigma and conjure up the typical loser?

  • Back in the 90's I lived in north Texas where the ground is clay for as deep as you can dig. You build your house on a concrete slab. And then you water your foundation, so as the clay doesn't expand and contract from repeated wet/dry cycles. Building a house with a basement is just asking for structural problems. We didn't have kids when we lived there so someone else is going to have to explain where they warehouse the teenage/twenty-something/thirty-something geeks and/or child-molesting misfits. Wh

    • by gmhowell (26755)

      You forgot the point about the difficulty of bringing your basement in on a trailer.

  • During dotcom days, I worked in a basement. No windows and this was east of Los Angeles, CA, USA. :D

  • My first out-of-college, out-on-my-own home was what a real estate agent would euphemistically refer to as a "garden apartment" in a rather run-down complex.

    Ground level was about 4 feet above my floors.

    Always damp and somewhat stinky.

  • by PolarBrave (1549943) on Monday June 22, 2009 @08:20PM (#28432791)
    I don't know who's basement it is, but they got a nice computer!
  • Since the bedrock is almost at the surface in the area I am, a basement is a very expensive item because of all the digging required.

    Instead, what people do is convert a garage, or use a detached as additional living space.

  • Florida Basements (Score:4, Insightful)

    by DoctorPepper (92269) on Monday June 22, 2009 @08:43PM (#28433071)

    Where I live (Florida), basements are referred to as "indoor swimming pools".

  • Free AC (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Valkyre (101907) on Monday June 22, 2009 @08:53PM (#28433195) Journal

    I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of it before. After a few weeks of literally stripping down to shorts living in a room that regularly hit 90 degrees, I discovered that the basement was perpetually at 68.

    Haven't come out since.

  • my college friend got #2 in the Vietnam draft lottery, dropped out of college, and went conscientious objector. He got a job as a janitor for the two years in a nursing home and they rented him literally a basement closet in the building for the intermediate ambulatory for $25/month. Stayed over a few nights. There was just free space length and width to roll out a sleeping bag parallel to his bunk. No kitchen or cooking of course and the bathroom was one of the home's public rest rooms or the closer mo

  • Some of us prefer attics. A nice view over the neighborhood, a typically larger space, and less dampness are all good benefits.

  • Does a half-underground first-floor apartment count? If it helps, it was dank and the local cats liked to *ahem* socialize outside my bedroom window.

  • by grolaw (670747) on Tuesday June 23, 2009 @01:39AM (#28435537) Journal

    I spent a week mapping a cave while an undergrad.....

  • by ath1901 (1570281) on Tuesday June 23, 2009 @05:57AM (#28436833)

    I'm having trouble filling out the poll.
    I haven't lived in a basement for years AND I'm thinking of moving back. I'm trying to check both option but the black dot is too quick for me. How can I slow it down so I can click both? I tried chewing gum but it just wont stick to the dot (the screen is in the way).

    If only Cowboy Neil was here to guide me. I have lived in his basement.

  • by BCW2 (168187) on Tuesday June 23, 2009 @09:38AM (#28438749) Journal
    Only during tornado watches!

    and it's the basement of my own home.
  • by PrimeWaveZ (513534) on Wednesday June 24, 2009 @08:31AM (#28451591)

    But I stay in one when I'm visiting the in-laws.

  • by flibuste (523578) on Wednesday June 24, 2009 @08:32AM (#28451601)
    I built my first computer (an Apple II clone) with my dad in my basement. My basement means something to me.
  • by Zerbey (15536) on Wednesday June 24, 2009 @04:18PM (#28458893) Homepage Journal

    Up until I was 7 years old we lived in an old house with an upstairs attic that had the same floorspace as the two bedrooms combined. You could only get up there with a stepladder. I remember it as this big room that hadn't been decorated in decades so the wallpaper was peeling and the carpet was all torn up. No electricity other than a light. The only furniture was some old mattresses we pulled up there and an ever rotating supply of toys.

    Coolest. Den. Ever.

    The new owners turned it into a third bedroom. Idiots.

  • by TrailerTrash (91309) * on Wednesday June 24, 2009 @05:34PM (#28459909)

    I am married, two kids, nice house (4BR, 4BA), etc. etc. Unfinished basement. For those who don't know what that is (Aussies, among others), it's the concrete foundation, nothing else. We used it to store junk.

    Then my two daughters got older.

    I cleaned out the basement, and built my dream apartment. Large home office with a dozen GB ethernet wired ports, wireless router, three PC's, docking station for the work laptop, and a Lord of the Rings shrine. Also in the basement are a gym, large walk-in closet, full bathroom, storage, and a full home theater with kitchenette. All my clothes, toys, brewing equipment, etc. are down there.

    The main PC's, server, RAID boxes, etc. all sit in a different room from the office, with patch panels connecting the peripherals from the equipment area into the home office. It's dead silent in the office even with all of the PC's going. I have a wireless transmitter to repeat the satellite radio signal from the outside antenna throughout the basement. In addition to the home theater the gym sports a flat-panel TV with satellite TV and DVR.

    I own the decoration of the basement. The wife gets no say. Just as I get no say anywhere else in the house.

    The only way you'd know I actually live in the main floor of the house is that I am in the family picture in the living room.

    Love my family, but love my apartment too. And they appreciate that I have a place to hide, and have gotten all the electronics out of the rest of the house.

    Sweet.

    Sometimes, when you grow up, you get to move BACK into the basement.

The biggest mistake you can make is to believe that you are working for someone else.

 



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