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Sonia Stephens

@terpsinoe.bsky.social
356 followers 577 following 97 posts

Risk and environmental communication researcher @ UCF. Birder. Howell Branch basin/Middle St. Johns River watershed. Go Pride! 💜 she/her

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Reposted by Sonia Stephens
ka92 @ka92.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
オーカミ
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cmrn knzlmn @ckunzelman.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
If you are a graduate student in the humanities (construed as broadly as possible), what is the MOST EXCITING book published in the last five years to you? Please repost if you’re not a graduate student!
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Morgan Banville, PhD @banvillemorgan.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
The @sigdoc-acm.bsky.social schedule is live: sigdoc.acm.org/conference/2... @ekalodnermar.bsky.social and I have worked diligently over the past year to coordinate the proposal & proceedings process, and we’re so excited that we’re only one month away until the conference! Program PDF coming soon.
sigdoc.acm.org
Program – ACM SIGDOC 2026 Conference
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Jer Thorp @jerthorp.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Friends! Can I ask you a favour? My 🐦 + 📊 course starts next week. I'm super excited but registration is worryingly low. Can you share this with your weirdo nature + art + code friends? jerthorp.me/learning
jerthorp.me
LEARNING | jerthorp
Online courses and wokshops about birds, data and creative coding. Binoculars to Binomials is for coders who are interested in cultivating an observational practice, and for birders who want to dive ...
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Sonia Stephens @terpsinoe.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Lol, our college's students won an award. Go Knights! community.orlandoweekly.com/best-of/2026...
community.orlandoweekly.com
Best The Kids Are Alright: Nicholson School of Communication and Media and College of Arts and Humanities Graduating Class of 2026
The boos heard ’round the world started right here in Orlando, when UCF graduates kicked off a national movement of grads letting the artificial intelligence...
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American Bird Conservancy @abcbirds.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
August 8th is Hawaiian Honeycreeper Celebration Day, a date inspired by Hawaiʻi's 808 area code and dedicated to celebrating some of the world's most extraordinary birds! 🏝️ Read about the Pilina Project on our website: abcbirds.info/3TBx2Lx
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Sonia Stephens @terpsinoe.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Published a new paper! It reports on interviewing folks who use apps like iNaturalist & eBird to ID species, asking how this changes their holistic experience of nature. I'm excited about this project & hope this'll be the 1st of several publications about it. link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com
How species identification apps affect users’ experiences of nature observing - Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences
This study reports on interviews with amateur nature observers, focusing on how using species identification apps which incorporate computer vision tools to help users identify organisms affects their...
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Birds of the World | The Cornell Lab @birdsoftheworld.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
The Macaulay Library is seeking individuals with bird sound editing experience in part-time contractor roles to archive historical recordings of bird sounds. The goal of this effort is to expand the archive with high priority recordings to support scientific research. ebird.org/about/jobs
ebird.org
Jobs at eBird - eBird
We are always looking for people who share our passion. Come be a part of Team eBird!
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Mondo Mascots @mondomascots.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Marimu-chan, a mascot from Lake Akan in Kushiro City, is a sentient ball of algae wearing a traditional local Ainu costume.
A green ball with eyes and limbs is wearing a traditional blue costume and standing in a shopping mall.
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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
The St. Louis Zoo has a dedicated penguin elevator for transporting their Formal Chickens™ to behind-the-scenes areas where they can get medical checkups, enrichment activities. Kicking myself for becoming a LAB biologist when I could have been a Penguin Elevator operator. (📷: St. Louis Zoo)
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Silvia Pineda-Munoz, PhD - Climate Ages @climateages.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
One of my favorite photos I’ve taken at the Smithsonian. Can you see the bird? A bird built its nest inside the mouth of a Triceratops. An avian dinosaur decided that a dinosaur was the perfect place to raise more dinosaurs. The fossil record comes full circle. 🧪 🦕♻️🕊️
Close-up photograph of a bronze Triceratops head sculpture outdoors at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. A small brown dove sits on a nest built inside the sculpture’s open lower jaw, creating the impression that the bird is nesting inside the dinosaur’s mouth. Trees and a museum building are visible in the background on a sunny spring day.
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Joe Dator @joedator.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
Today's Daily Cartoon for @newyorker.com by Kevin Maher and me.
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Sonia Stephens @terpsinoe.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
I love Orlando Fringe! orlandofringe.ssboxoffice.com/events/heate...
orlandofringe.ssboxoffice.com
Heated Ribaldry: An Opera of Musical Proportions | orlandofringe
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Emma Rose @emmarosephd.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
Are you in Tacoma? Want to join us for a little nature walk, look at plants, use an app, and chat about your experience? We're doing a research study at Point Defiance on May 1. If you'd like to join us, learn more here: forms.gle/kGfGDae9hcgu...
Join a nature walk!
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rahaeli @rahaeli.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
This is why @naomikritzer.bsky.social's The Year Without Sunshine is one of my favorite disaster stories: www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-...
uncannymagazine.com
The Year Without Sunshine - Uncanny Magazine
During one of the much smaller disasters that preceded the really big disaster, I met a lot of my neighbors online. I can’t remember if we set up the WhatsApp group because of the pandemic or the civi...
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Jessica McKenzie @jessimckenzi.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
My big takeaway from reporting this story is that it's not JUST about the Forest Service. The closure of these stations threatens to upend a delicate system of mutually beneficial collaboration and resource sharing, and the impacts will ripple out far beyond the Forest Service itself.
thebulletin.org
‘It’s just madness’: Trump administration to close three-quarters of Forest Service research stations
Between funding cuts, facility closures, and the inevitable resignations that will follow, there’s virtually no way for the Forest Service to continue to do research at its current level or quality, w...
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Janet Hill @saskajanet.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
Anybody got an ID on that bird? #birds
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Sonia Stephens @terpsinoe.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
I'm with my Representative on this one.
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RM @dorsalstream.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
The horse op-ed is an instant classic. I can't tell you how much joy this piece gives me. It should be taught in every introductory writing class in no small part because the horse arguments are so compelling. "I have noticed that human children get to eat cake. But I am bigger than the children."
I Work Very Hard, And I Would Like To Try Cake

By A Horse

Hello. I am a horse. I work very hard at my job of being a horse. When humans say move the heavy thing, I move the heavy thing. When humans sit on top of me and pull on my head, I carry them where they want to go. The main food the humans give me is hay and oats. But I am thinking it would be nice to have a different food.

I am thinking I would like to try cake.

Yes, yes. Cake. I know all about it. When humans eat cake, it is in glad times. It is the food for a celebration, such as when a woman becomes 47. I have seen cake on the Fourth of July. When humans have a cake, they stand around it and clap hands and smile and say happy birthday at each other. Sometimes there are beautiful markings on a cake, such as balloons or a pink shape.

Sometimes the top of a cake is on fire and a boy must blow on the fire with mouth wind. This is the scariest cake. I do not want this kind. But I will eat any other cake. Any cake that is not the fire cake that tries to kill the boy.

Please understand: I do not get money for doing work. I do not get to go inside the house. All I am either doing my horse job or standing in my pen or eating food off the floor. I always do these things. But I have never once gotten cake and I would like it very much.

I have noticed that human children get to eat cake. But I am bigger than the children. I am more helpful to the farm. Children do not move the heavy things like me or let anyone ride on them. And yet they get cake. Maybe the humans will realize this. Maybe they will say, "You  know who deserves cake? That horse. That horse whose back we are always on."

Every day I dream about what it will be like if I get to eat cake. Here is what will happen. First, I will walk to the cake and putt my nose at it like hrrfff to make and stomping my hooves to make sure it is not a snake. Then I will trot in a circle to show that I am a horse and I am large. After that, I will nuzzle the cake to …
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Scott Lynch @scottlynch78.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
moby-dick, his eyes enormous: from hell's heart you STAB at moby? for hate's sake you spit your last BREATH at moby? oh! oh! the great shroud of the sea for ahab! the great shroud of the sea rolling on as it rolled five thousand years ago!!!!
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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
look at this baby beaver and feel better briefly (@ wildheartrescue on TT)
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Orlando Pride @orlpride.com · 11/03/2026
Our squad is set 🤝 Introducing your 2026 Orlando Pride season roster 📝
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Wieferich Prime @pikesley.mastodon.me.uk.ap.brid.gy · 19/01/2026
Frodo: I wish so much unbelievably stupid shit had not happened in my time

Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times. This is all exceptionally stupid, though
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Sonia Stephens @terpsinoe.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
Canada geese work hard on their badassrey but these nēnē are pretty badass without visible effort.
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Special Interest Group on the Design of Communication @sigdoc-acm.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
Our New Year’s gift to you: Proposals for the 2026 conference are now due on January 16! We can’t wait to read your proposals🥳
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Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 01/01/2025
Happy New Year from the Izu Shaboten Zoo!
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Sonia Stephens @terpsinoe.bsky.social · 29/12/2025
We experienced some amazing scenery in Aotearoa/New Zealand and there was so much more we could have seen.
Hiker pausing on the Otira Valley Track, near Arthur's Pass.Beach trail on Kapiti Island near the Kapiti Lodge.Looking for pīwauwau/rock wren in Otira Valley. We didn't see any but it was an amazing hike.Waimakariri River in Arthur's Pass National Park, with mountains in the background.
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Sonia Stephens @terpsinoe.bsky.social · 29/12/2025
Went to New Zealand on (our) winter break and it was an amazing trip. So many birds! Also, eels! Tuatara! Pohutukawa flowering!
Kākā insisting via eye contact with a human that it deserves a human snack. It was not successful at either begging or opening our backpack itself.One of Kapiti Island's resident takahe! This was the male, I forgot his name but given his apparent chill attitude I suspect he wouldn't be too bothered by the lapse.Mixed group of albatrosses and giant petrels following a boat, with the Kaikōura mountains in the background. We saw 5 albatross species, 3 shearwaters, and 2 petrel species on our pelagic trip.
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Microplastics Sommelier @leastactionhero.bsky.social · 28/10/2025
Dominos meme
White Sox fan forced to accept Cubs jersey

Assyrian bishops refuse to condemn Nestorius's 431 challenge to the use of the title Theotokos ('Bearer of God'") for Mary.
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emily @ekj.bsky.social · 27/10/2025
✨UCF is hiring a tenure-track assistant professor in Technical Communication!✨ Teach upper-level undergrad & grad courses; oversee Writing for the Technical Professional. Happy to answer questions (email is best: ekj@ucf.edu)! More here: jobs.ucf.edu/jobs/assista...
jobs.ucf.edu
Assistant Professor, Technical Communication - Orlando, Florida, United States
The OpportunityThe Department of English in the College of Arts and Humanities (CAH) at the University of Central Florida (UCF) invites applications for a 9-month, tenure-earning faculty position in T...
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Special Interest Group on the Design of Communication @sigdoc-acm.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
We are delighted to announce the finalists in the 2025 Student Research Competition. Please join us at 8:00am on Sat Oct 25 in Room 124 in the Student Union Building to hear their presentations. Thanks to all of participants, our excellent judges, and everyone who attended the poster session.
Undergraduate student presenting posterUndergraduate student presenting posterGraduate student presenting posterUndergraduate student presenting poster
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Sonia Stephens @terpsinoe.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
What not to do when anonymizing interview transcripts...
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Special Interest Group on the Design of Communication @sigdoc-acm.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
Loop in sustainability this year at CPTSC and SIGDOC.
Bring your own lanyard.
We'll provide nametags, but reusing your old lanyard helps us reduce waste.
Plus, you can show off your preferred colors or style.
Don't have an old one? Don't worry—-we've got you covered with spares!
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Rosemary Mosco @rosemarymosco.com · 14/10/2025
Spooky bird stories. Last year's Halloween comic.
A comic titled Spooky Bird Stories. In panel 1, a turkey vulture is telling stories to other vultures, and it says, "She walked toward the source of the terrible smell. She got closer and closer, and then, to her horror, she saw... No dead body." A black vulture says "No!" and a turkey vulture says "Did someone already eat it??"
In panel 2, a northern cardinal is telling a story to some songbirds. It says "They peered through the windows of the house at the gory scene. Zombies had smashed through the door in the night. The homeowner was dead. But worst of all... He hadn't refilled the feeders." An eastern bluebird says "Aaah!" and an American goldfinch says "It can't be!".
In panel 3, a screech owl is telling a story to other owls. It says "And then the ghost fluffed itself up really big to appear scarier." A saw-whet owl gasps, and a long-eared owl says "Horrifying!".
In panel 4, a downy woodpecker is telling a story to other woodpeckers, and says "The eerie sound rang through the dark woods. Tap-tap. Tap-tap. It was the distinctive two-part knock of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker. The species had returned from the dead... FOR REVENGE." A red-cockaded woodpecker says "Yesss".
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Sonia Stephens @terpsinoe.bsky.social · 09/10/2025
Fall migration is well underway! Our first three painted buntings showed up in the yard yesterday, and the first two catbirds today. Hopefully they'll all be hanging out all winter!
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Sonia Stephens @terpsinoe.bsky.social · 04/10/2025
Classic Orlando experience: was bit by a goose at Lake Eola en route to see a Shanghai-set production of LA Boheme at Opera Orlando.
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UCF Texts & Technology PhD @ucftandt.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
Want to study the intersection of humanities and technology at a smaller scale than a PhD? T&T also offers an interdisciplinary graduate certificate, Digital Humanities in the Age of AI. We'll be holding an information session Wednesday, November 5 at 6pm applynow.graduate.ucf.edu/register/?id...
applynow.graduate.ucf.edu
Digital Humanities in the Age of AI Gradute Certificate Open House
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iNaturalist @inaturalist.bsky.social · 04/09/2025
Here, have some birds perched on appropriate/delightful signage. You're welcome. 🧵 ⤵️ 1. Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus) by tysmith on iNaturalist
A black vulture sits on a sign that says "black vulture notice."
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Season of Scaryanne Denton 🧡🎃 @mariannedenton.bsky.social · 01/09/2025
Spooky Season is near 🩶🤍🖤 (poached from FB @zoodraws.bsky.social with associated info in AltText)
A three panel cartoon illustration of a shrike:

HEY ANDERSON! WE'RE STILL IN SUMMER! IT'S A LITTLE EARLY FOR THE HALLOWEEN DECORATIONS. EH?!
(Shrike sitting on a branch.)
DECOR-..
(Close up of a Shrike sitting on a branch.)
DECORATIONS?
(Shrike sitting on a branch surrounded by its impaled kill.)

From Facebook posting:

If you know, YOU KNOW. Meet my spark bird!
HALLOWEEN
For birders, a spark bird is the one that first ignites your passion for birding. For me, that moment came as a kid hiking with my dad, when we came across a mouse that had been... creatively dispatched. He explained it was probably the work of a Shrike-and I was astonished. How could such a sweet little songbird pull off something so extreme?
That contradiction is exactly what makes the Shrike unforgettable. Also known as the "butcher bird", it's infamous for its grisly habit of impaling prey on thorns or barbed wire, creating a pantry in an area that most animals would avoid (because WTF?!)
Their menu includes insects, lizards, small mammals, and other birds. Shrikes can be found across the globe, where they transform ordinary landscapes into impromptu Spirit Halloween stores.
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Patrick Vallely @pjvphotography.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
"Pat, why do you carry that ridiculous 600mm lens on long hikes?" Buddy, I can see mountains reflected in the eyes of a trailside pika.
A pika sits on a mossy rock.Tighter crop of the same pika, focusing on its head.An even tighter crop, focusing more on the pika's eye.An extremely tight crop of the pika's eye, emphasizing their reflection of an early morning mountain scene.
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Wendy Miller @burrowingowl.bsky.social · 24/08/2025
I'm gonna need a good car wash after today!🪶
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Equality Florida @equalityfl.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
🚨TAKE ACTION🚨 In the dead of night, Ron DeSantis ordered part of the Pulse memorial painted over. That’s why we’re calling on everyone in Orlando to show up for a peaceful gathering today at the Pulse Memorial at 6:00pm ET. #ShowYourRainbow🌈
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Sorcha Ní Nia @luiseach.bsky.social · 14/08/2025
Lads the HONK I just honked
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Jer Thorp @jerthorp.bsky.social · 11/07/2025
Are you into 🐦 + 🔉? Or 🐦 + 🎶? Or just 🐦 + 👂? Next week's BtB Thursdays meetup is all about birds and sound. We'll share projects and inspiration and probably listen to a whole lot of chirps, cheeps + trills. binoculars-to-binomials.disco.co/p/btb-thursd... (img: Lou Sheppard) 🪶
Black and white abstract score from Lou Sheppard's Dawn Chorus, Evensong, 2019
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Sonia Stephens @terpsinoe.bsky.social · 25/06/2025
Saw my 700th species of bird yesterday! Behold, my least terrible photo of an island scrub-jay.
Somewhat grainy photo of a large blue and gray bird hiding in the shrubbery. It's giving you side-eye because it disapproves of your presence.
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UCF Texts & Technology PhD @ucftandt.bsky.social · 19/06/2025
#TBT to T&T faculty member @terpsinoe.bsky.social's 2021 article, "Story mapping and sea level rise: listening to global risks at street level." Take a look! dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1...
dl.acm.org
Story mapping and sea level rise: listening to global risks at street level: Communication Design Quarterly: Vol 8, No 1
While interactive maps are important tools for risk communication, most maps omit the lived experiences and personal stories of the community members who are most at risk. We describe a project to dev...
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Rebecca Heisman @rheisman.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
Welp, I did it, I wrote a piece for @therevelator.org on the proposed funding cuts to the Bird Banding Lab & Breeding Bird Survey and what they would mean for bird research & conservation in the U.S. Definitely a different sort of writing than I usually do. 🪶 therevelator.org/trump-vs-bir...
therevelator.org
Trump vs. Birds: Proposed Budget Eliminates Critical Research Programs • The Revelator
Experts say there’s “no substitute” for the Bird Banding Laboratory or the Breeding Bird Survey, which help reveal the health and status of avian populations across the country.
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Dan Baldassarre @evornithology.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
Birds as pride flags, meticulously researched by my wonderful student Griffin ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜 Rainbow flag: Eastern Rosella 📷 David Irving, eBird
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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 30/05/2025
you’ve been on my mind all night
Text messages:

“In 1996, two neighbors in Devon, England, spent an entire year hooting at each other while believing they were communicating with owls.”
This feels like something you would do
no offense
Read 8:45 AM

Response:
None taken
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Sonia Stephens @terpsinoe.bsky.social · 30/05/2025
Time for the night-blooming cereus at Mead Gardens! It blooms once a year. Each flower is about eight inches across, and the cactus is an epiphyte that climbs a long way.
Photo of a mass of cactus blooms climbing a pine tree. It's night, and people taking photos can be seen at the base of the tree.
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