..::THE COMMUNITY TECH THREAD No. 94::..

Post » Mon Jan 31, 2011 4:21 am

Originally by Powerslide
LET'S MAKE THIS WORK PEOPLE!

Okay, now as anyone could see there are HUNDREDS of tech threads floating around in CD - ranging from questions about graphics hardware, to questions about pricier graphics hardware and other tech such as monitors, hard drives and Processors to announcement threads of new technology and more. (I accede - I'm not being very eloquent here

Any questions you have, tech news or ANYTHING related to buying/selling/information/announcements of new hardware should go here.

For example, if you come to the forums to ask "What is the better graphics hardware" or "What sort of RAM should I put in my PC?" then it should go here - I'm a little hazy, I know - but please keep all those graphics card and tech questions to one thread! Please!
So here's the summary, all:
  • Announcements and queries on new or unreleased tech
  • Benchmarks and results of hardware/discussion
  • Questions on what sort of hardware you need/want for your machine
  • Questions about existing tech and/or function
  • Pricing and recommendations

Should be kept to THIS THREAD.

This has been A-okayed by CCNA for all who were wondering - it's up to you to stop filling CD with the same topics again and again that ask what the most powerful card in existence is so you can (not) buy it.

If you feel you have a question or can answer one - please feel free to do so.

Also, this is a great thread for you PC newbs, for learning more about your PC and hardware. http://www.elderscrolls.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=258050&st=0&p=4626051&#entry4626051

Also, a useful site for a frame of reference (not actual numbers), http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu.html?modelx=33&model1=476&model2=477&chart=174, and http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics.html?modelx=33&model1=519&model2=547&chart=211


Thanks all.
Adding more links shortly, thank you for your patience.

(Threads 1-82 have been all pruned, may they rest in peace)


http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1069729
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1073705
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1076918
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1079401-the-community-tech-thread-%2386/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1084024-the-community-tech-thread-no-87/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1090141-the-community-tech-thread-no-88/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1094900-the-community-tech-thread-no-89/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1102258-the-community-tech-thread-no-90/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1108118-the-community-tech-thread-no-91/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1112884-the-community-tech-thread-no-92/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1118559-the-community-tech-thread-no-93/

Do I also have to put a big glowing neon sign to this in my signature? THERE ARE TOO MANY TECH THREADS - THIS IS NOT A FORUM FOR YOUR TECH WOES!

But we will gladly help you anyway. ;)

Honour list:
Nottheking
Lord Athanar (SUPER-PINK!)
Insaneturbo13
Anothercanadian
Tig Ol' Bitties
Dogsbody
CCNA (Moderator)
Níeh?ggr
wolfpup
Wierd
Softnerd
wingus
DEFRON
Qwaxalot

Oh and PLEASE, if you want us to "Build" you a PC, please indicate the following:
1.) your budget in your country's currency
2.) what country you reside if not listed in your avatar area
3.) pre-assembled PC? ...or can you build your own?
4.) what is needed other than the PC tower? Monitor, speakers, mouse, keyboard, Windows OS disc? All these can jack up the price.
5.) product preferences, preferred seller, and intended aim

but please, no "I want teh superererest Peecee evar1!!!!11!1", because really, only Bill Gates has that much moolah.

And, speaking of building your own PC, two good how-to videos from Newegg (thanks to SpankyTheElf for finding these):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CStOC0hET8 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3buj5cIh2Bs&feature=related

Other useful links
http://trinityhome.org/Home/index.php?wpid=1&front_id=12
http://tools.corsairmemory.com/systembuild/report.aspx?report_id=12472
http://www.memtest86.com/
http://www.techpowerup.com/atitool/
http://entechtaiwan.com/util/ps.shtm
http://www.irfanview.com/
http://www.knoppix.org/
http://www.jonnyguru.com/
http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/showthread.php?t=136602
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.html
http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php
http://www.cpuid.com/pcwizard.php
http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/
http://www.crucial.com/systemscanner/
http://tftcentral.co.uk/
http://www.apple.com/itunes/
http://www.futuremark.com/products/3dmark06/
http://www.fraps.com/
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Chantel Hopkin
 
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Post » Mon Jan 31, 2011 11:22 am

My brother is trying to get a new laptop after his last one got its motherboard fried, but I'm not sure what would be good. He doesn't need it for gaming or anything, just web browsing really. The thing is he told me he wants something sturdy, because he's pretty careless with his things. He was looking at http://us.toshiba.com/computers/laptops/satellite/L635-for-kids/L635-S3030, but that processor doesn't look very good. I don't know how much it was when he saw it in the store, it might have been on sale, but it'll need to be as cheap as possible.
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rae.x
 
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Post » Mon Jan 31, 2011 8:38 am

The thing is he told me he wants something sturdy, because he's pretty careless with his things.

You say sturdy, I say http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834146840.
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Danielle Brown
 
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Post » Mon Jan 31, 2011 12:01 am

My brother is trying to get a new laptop after his last one got its motherboard fried, but I'm not sure what would be good. He doesn't need it for gaming or anything, just web browsing really. The thing is he told me he wants something sturdy, because he's pretty careless with his things. He was looking at http://us.toshiba.com/computers/laptops/satellite/L635-for-kids/L635-S3030, but that processor doesn't look very good. I don't know how much it was when he saw it in the store, it might have been on sale, but it'll need to be as cheap as possible.

This deal is hard to ignore:
http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/541572/MSI-S6000-017US-Laptop-Computer-With/

This one is ok:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834214031

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6304474&CatId=4938


These two have a Radoen 4250 integrated chipset and a quad-core chip:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6291690&CatId=4938
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6291688&CatId=4938

All are under $600 as of this post...
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Ebou Suso
 
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Post » Mon Jan 31, 2011 1:58 pm

Perhaps not a real issue, but I'd still like someone with more knowledge than me to comment to calm my nerves.

So, while playing TF2 just now the screen went black, and after about 15 seconds the motherboard logo appeared. Windows went to the "Windows wasn't shut down properly, do you want to start it in Safe Mode?"-screen, where I chose to go on with regular Windows. After a few seconds the screen flashed blue and then the PC restarted again, this time claiming Windows didn't start properly and asked me if I wanted to perform "Startup Repair". I chose it, Windows didn't find any errors and now when I started it up again everything seems in order.

The thing is that I sent this rig back to the "manufacturer" (Ordered it as pieces but also paid the company to build it, so I have a guarantee on the entire rig) about a month ago because of another issue (broken graphics card) so I'm worried when this kind of thing happens to close after the latest issue.

Is it something to be bothered about/something I should do to avoid it again, or is this just something "that happens" now and then? Even as I type it it sounds very "standard" so I'm not expecting any magical know-it-all answers, just thought I'd ask.
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Karen anwyn Green
 
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Post » Mon Jan 31, 2011 4:09 am

Perhaps not a real issue, but I'd still like someone with more knowledge than me to comment to calm my nerves.

So, while playing TF2 just now the screen went black, and after about 15 seconds the motherboard logo appeared. Windows went to the "Windows wasn't shut down properly, do you want to start it in Safe Mode?"-screen, where I chose to go on with regular Windows. After a few seconds the screen flashed blue and then the PC restarted again, this time claiming Windows didn't start properly and asked me if I wanted to perform "Startup Repair". I chose it, Windows didn't find any errors and now when I started it up again everything seems in order.

The thing is that I sent this rig back to the "manufacturer" (Ordered it as pieces but also paid the company to build it, so I have a guarantee on the entire rig) about a month ago because of another issue (broken graphics card) so I'm worried when this kind of thing happens to close after the latest issue.

Is it something to be bothered about/something I should do to avoid it again, or is this just something "that happens" now and then? Even as I type it it sounds very "standard" so I'm not expecting any magical know-it-all answers, just thought I'd ask.


Sounds like a BSoD/Automatic Restart, so you'll need to disable automatic restarts after fatal errors.

Link: http://www.winvistatips.com/disable-automatic-restart-t84.html
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Leticia Hernandez
 
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Post » Mon Jan 31, 2011 3:59 pm

Ok what type of cord do you use that you connect your laptop or desktop to a tv so the screen is on the tv? My tv is an HDTV so is there a special cord with that as well and what about a cord to allow the sound go through the tv? Basically I want to play Morrowind and Minecraft on my tv with the sound out of my tv. How expensive for the type of cords to allow that?
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RObert loVes MOmmy
 
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Post » Mon Jan 31, 2011 3:00 am

Ok what type of cord do you use that you connect your laptop or desktop to a tv so the screen is on the tv? My tv is an HDTV so is there a special cord with that as well and what about a cord to allow the sound go through the tv? Basically I want to play Morrowind and Minecraft on my tv with the sound out of my tv. How expensive for the type of cords to allow that?

HDMI.

They're around $20-40 a pop if you buy them in a retail store, but I recently ordered three on Amazon for around $2 each with free shipping.
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Zach Hunter
 
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Post » Mon Jan 31, 2011 10:32 am

This deal is hard to ignore:
http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/541572/MSI-S6000-017US-Laptop-Computer-With/

This one is ok:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834214031

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6304474&CatId=4938


These two have a Radoen 4250 integrated chipset and a quad-core chip:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6291690&CatId=4938
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6291688&CatId=4938

All are under $600 as of this post...

You say sturdy, I say http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834146840.


Thank you! I've sent my brother links to those, hopefully they're within his budget.
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Gemma Archer
 
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Post » Mon Jan 31, 2011 8:55 am

HDMI.

They're around $20-40 a pop if you buy them in a retail store, but I recently ordered three on Amazon for around $2 each with free shipping.

Wow that is a steal. I guess I will look around.
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Emmanuel Morales
 
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Post » Mon Jan 31, 2011 10:10 am

Wow that is a steal. I guess I will look around.

Always get the cheapest you can find. You gain absolutely nothing other than it possibly lasting longer by paying more. And if a $3 cable lasts a few years, and a $50 cables lasts 6, it's pretty easy to figure out which is a better buy.
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Farrah Lee
 
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Post » Mon Jan 31, 2011 1:08 am

Wow that is a steal. I guess I will look around.

Always get the cheapest you can find. You gain absolutely nothing other than it possibly lasting longer by paying more. And if a $3 cable lasts a few years, and a $50 cables lasts 6, it's pretty easy to figure out which is a better buy.

Yes, get the cheapest HDMI cable you can find. A digital signal is a digital signal....same picture with the cheap cables compared to those stupid Monster ones. This is one of the biggest scams in the Home Theater industry with those many Best Buy workers trying to sell you Monster cables for $100 with your just bought HDTV saaying it's necessary and that there's a quality difference :rolleyes


I've gotten them online for as cheap as $0.99 (shipping actually costs more than the cable itself) at times for a 6ft cable. I wouldn't spend more than $10 on one if I'm in a bind.
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Nick Swan
 
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Post » Mon Jan 31, 2011 10:36 am

I've gotten them online for as cheap as $0.99 (shipping actually costs more than the cable itself) at times for a 6ft cable. I wouldn't spend more than $10 on one if I'm in a bind.

http://www.amazon.com/HDMI-Cable-2M-6-Feet/dp/B0002L5R78/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1291075952&sr=8-2 are a good deal, and I like that there's no shipping cost.

Buy in bulk, you never know when you're going to need an HDMI cable. A lot of electronics don't even include the required ones.

EDIT:
And now for my question....

I just got my first SSD. Anything I should know regarding installation, usage, maintenance, etc.?
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Connor Wing
 
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Post » Mon Jan 31, 2011 8:49 am

I'm not sure if this is the right thread to ask in, but I saw the FRAPS link so...what I'm looking for is a good video editor to edit/compress the Fraps files. It can be free, it can be $20 or $50. What it can't be is $200-$300 and filled with a lot of unnecessary "bloat" or adware. For instance, I tried a Pinnacle version 3-4 years ago and it was terrible & left tons of crap in the registry even when uninstalled. Like, literally hundreds of things I spent hours purging. Terrible coding. Not trying to create ILM like movies, so I like clean and basic.

I've been using VirtualDub for years and it still works fine with 'half-size' fraps videos, but it can't quite seem to handle the 1920x1080, high-fps ones I record. I've tried different buffer settings and stuff like that, but VM still starts skipping frames or audio skipping and it becomes a mess. So I need something else I guess. Any suggestions?
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Nick Pryce
 
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Post » Mon Jan 31, 2011 7:47 am

I'm not sure if this is the right thread to ask in, but I saw the FRAPS link so...what I'm looking for is a good video editor to edit/compress the Fraps files. It can be free, it can be $20 or $50. What it can't be is $200-$300 and filled with a lot of unnecessary "bloat" or adware. For instance, I tried a Pinnacle version 3-4 years ago and it was terrible & left tons of crap in the registry even when uninstalled. Like, literally hundreds of things I spent hours purging. Terrible coding. Not trying to create ILM like movies, so I like clean and basic.

I've been using VirtualDub for years and it still works fine with 'half-size' fraps videos, but it can't quite seem to handle the 1920x1080, high-fps ones I record. I've tried different buffer settings and stuff like that, but VM still starts skipping frames or audio skipping and it becomes a mess. So I need something else I guess. Any suggestions?

Try:

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=145577
or
http://fixounet.free.fr/avidemux/
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Gemma Woods Illustration
 
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Post » Mon Jan 31, 2011 11:09 am

EDIT:
And now for my question....

I just got my first SSD. Anything I should know regarding installation, usage, maintenance, etc.?

I have to say that I haven't had any first-hand experiences and this is just from what other people told me but apparently SSDs' life expectancy is still relatively short compared to your average HDDs and the more read-write operations you do on them the shorter they live, so definitely don't defragment your SSD (which makes little sense in the first place because read/write times on SSDs are negligibly affected by fragmentation).
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Monika Fiolek
 
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Post » Mon Jan 31, 2011 2:13 pm

Does anyone know why Samsung doesn't seem to sell 1920 x 1200 monitors anymore? All the 24 inch monitors are 1920 x 1080.now.
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Neil
 
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Post » Mon Jan 31, 2011 3:58 am

Try:

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=145577
or
http://fixounet.free.fr/avidemux/

Thanks, the 2nd one looks like a good option.
But it didn't solve my problem. After some more experimenting it appears that for some technical reason recording in 1080 at more than 40fps causes the weird stuff to occur in the editors. The uncompressed fraps video will play in the regular media player with no issue, so I can watch it, but in the editor it becomes completely wa-wa-wa. Strange. Can't figure it out. Guess for now I'll have to stick to 40fps or lower.
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Sunnii Bebiieh
 
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Post » Mon Jan 31, 2011 9:03 am

Does anyone know why Samsung doesn't seem to sell 1920 x 1200 monitors anymore? All the 24 inch monitors are 1920 x 1080.now.


Most likely because of the HDTVs and their 16:9 ratios... 16:10 monitors are harder and harder to fine.
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rolanda h
 
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Post » Mon Jan 31, 2011 4:28 pm

Thanks, the 2nd one looks like a good option.
But it didn't solve my problem. After some more experimenting it appears that for some technical reason recording in 1080 at more than 40fps causes the weird stuff to occur in the editors. The uncompressed fraps video will play in the regular media player with no issue, so I can watch it, but in the editor it becomes completely wa-wa-wa. Strange. Can't figure it out. Guess for now I'll have to stick to 40fps or lower.

What are you computer specs and what codec are you using to encode the videos?
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M!KkI
 
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Post » Mon Jan 31, 2011 4:48 am

Does anyone know why Samsung doesn't seem to sell 1920 x 1200 monitors anymore? All the 24 inch monitors are 1920 x 1080.now.

The trend in the last year or so is moving away from the 16:10 aspect ratio in favor of 16:9 for 24 inchers. Why? Two reasons I've come across quite a bit:

- More expensive to manufacture.
- Allows manufacturers to be compliant with HD 1080p standards and to advertise the hell out of it like it's something special.


Asus still has one that's pretty good though:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236047
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Joie Perez
 
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Post » Mon Jan 31, 2011 11:06 am

The trend in the last year or so is moving away from the 16:10 aspect ratio in favor of 16:9 for 24 inchers. Why? Two reasons I've come across quite a bit:

- More expensive to manufacture.
- Allows manufacturers to be compliant with HD 1080p standards and to advertise the hell out of it like it's something special.


Asus still has one that's pretty good though:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236047


:whisper: thats 25.5" :P Dell has 24" monitors at 1920x1200.
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Evaa
 
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Post » Mon Jan 31, 2011 1:59 pm

:whisper: thats 25.5" :P Dell has 24" monitors at 1920x1200.

:dead:
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Jani Eayon
 
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Post » Mon Jan 31, 2011 12:24 am

The trend in the last year or so is moving away from the 16:10 aspect ratio in favor of 16:9 for 24 inchers. Why? Two reasons I've come across quite a bit:

- More expensive to manufacture.
- Allows manufacturers to be compliant with HD 1080p standards and to advertise the hell out of it like it's something special.


Asus still has one that's pretty good though:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236047

Eh, I guess 24 inch 1920x1200 monitors are really rare and expensive now.

I wish I hadn't returned my previous 24 inch 1920x1200 Samsung Syncmaster some months back...

There's got to be some way to get a good one...
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Tiff Clark
 
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Post » Mon Jan 31, 2011 3:43 pm

Okay, wonder if anyone here can help me, seen as I have been unsuccessful everywhere else, basically ATI have released a new driver for my Graphics Card = ATI Radeon Sapphire HD 5770.

After downloading it, Media Centre; neither Live TV nor DVD's have worked. Basically, when I choose live TV in Windows Media Centre, I get normal TV for about a few seconds before it goes black and an normal error message comes up, closing Media Centre and the tv program with it, and DVD's wont start at all.

I've tried re-configuring my TV Tuners
I've re-installed my Gpu
I've re-installed my Tv Card

All to no avail - and i've also searched for new drivers for my TV Card - Hauppauge WinTV HVR 900H (66xxx)
It's worked for months prior to the ATI driver update, and i've also tried a System Restore to before the update; which eliminated the problem. I'd leave the new driver uninstalled if it meant I could play games without trouble, but it seems prior to that update, the games don't work properly either.

Though now i've got a pretty good idea that it may be Direcxtx11 causing the trouble; that's just a hunch - and even if it is that, i've no idea how to fix it. I'm just wondering if there is anything I can do to eliminate the problem, or at least find out why it's not working.
Any help appreciated in finding a solution. Cheers.
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Amie Mccubbing
 
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