207 lines
9.7 KiB
Plaintext
207 lines
9.7 KiB
Plaintext
Combat Arms
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2869 Grove Way
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Castro Valley, California 94546-6709
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Telephone (415) 538-6544
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October 2, 1988
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American P.O.W. Communication Codes
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During the ugly period of time when Americans were held prisoner by
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the North Vietnamese, they would communicate with their fellow prisoners by
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means of a code tapped out on the pipes or on the walls. This enabled them
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to keep hope alive, engage in the necessary practice of communicating with
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other human beings, as well as share the latest news.
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Many have asked me why they simply didn't learn and use Morse code.
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The problem with Morse code is that it consists of both dots and dashes.
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When you have only a small rock or your spoon to generate the noise, the
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matter of creating dashes becomes obvious. If there is no way to easily
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distinguish the dots from the dashes, then Morse code must be ruled out.
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Therefore a simple code consisting of a series of taps (or dots, if
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you will) is used. A matrix or box 5 characters wide and 5 characters long
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is used to separate the letters, giving the prisoner an alphabet of 25
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characters. The letter K is not used. The letter K sounds like the hard C
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("kuh") and the person receiving the message should be bright enough to
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figure out that "centucy" means Kentucky or the "cnife" means knife. Here's
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what the box looks like:
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COLUMN
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1 2 3 4 5
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ÉÍÍÍÍÍÑÍÍÍÍÍÑÍÍÍÍÍÑÍÍÍÍÍÑÍÍÍÍÍ»
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1 º A ³ B ³ C ³ D ³ E º
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ÇÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄĶ
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2 º F ³ G ³ H ³ I ³ J º
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R ÇÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄĶ
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GROUP 1 O 3 º L ³ M ³ N ³ O ³ P º
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W ÇÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄĶ
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4 º Q ³ R ³ S ³ T ³ U º
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ÇÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄĶ
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5 º V ³ W ³ X ³ Y ³ Z º
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ÈÍÍÍÍÍÏÍÍÍÍÍÏÍÍÍÍÍÏÍÍÍÍÍÏÍÍÍÍͼ
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To find a particular letter, you look up its Row number and then its
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Column number. Where the two intersect, you will find the letter. For
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example, if you start from the left at Row 1 and come down from the top at
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Column 2 you will be at the letter B. To send a B, you would send its Row
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and Column coordinates (1 and 2). You would tap once for the Row, pause,
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and then tap twice for the column. The person receiving this would know you
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were sending the letter in Row 1, Column 2. That would be the letter B.
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After sending the column number (2), you would pause and start the second
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letter. At the end of each word, pause a little longer. A long series of
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taps (greater than 5 taps) would indicate that you made and error and that
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the material following was correct.
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When the person on the receiving end hears you complete a full word,
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he/she would send a quick two taps. This serves as feedback to you that the
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person is still with you and following the communication. If the person
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receiving the message has received enough letters to determine the word,
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he/she should send a quick two taps to let you know that you can proceed to
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the next word.
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If the captors holding you prisoner break your code, it is a simple
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matter of rearranging the letter sequence in the box to have a new code
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base. That requires the rest of the prisoner population to have previously
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been told of the method used to rearrange the letter in the box and the
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signal (usually using the original arrangement of the letters) that the
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person receiving the code should use the new arrangement. For example, you
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may decide that the following should be used:
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COLUMN
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1 2 3 4 5
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ÉÍÍÍÍÍÑÍÍÍÍÍÑÍÍÍÍÍÑÍÍÍÍÍÑÍÍÍÍÍ»
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1 º C ³ D ³ E ³ F ³ G º
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ÇÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄĶ
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2 º H ³ I ³ J ³ L ³ M º
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R ÇÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄĶ
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GROUP 2 O 3 º N ³ O ³ P ³ Q ³ R º
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W ÇÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄĶ
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4 º S ³ T ³ U ³ V ³ W º
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ÇÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄĶ
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5 º X ³ Y ³ Z ³ A ³ B º
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ÈÍÍÍÍÍÏÍÍÍÍÍÏÍÍÍÍÍÏÍÍÍÍÍÏÍÍÍÍͼ
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It is even better if there is a logic to the letter arrangement. For
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example, you might decide to call the "regular" arrangement of letters in
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the box "Group 1." Group 2 might be arranged so that the first letter of
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the box would be the number of the month with the rest of the letters
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following in their regular order. For example, if it were March (3rd
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month), then the third letter in the alphabet (C) would be at Row 1, Column
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1. The letters following would be in their regular order. This is what has
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been done in the second example. November (the 11th month) would cause L to
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be in Row 1, Column 1. You would then tell the person receiving the code to
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"use group 2" and give them a few minutes to mentally calculate the letter
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arrangement. They should not draw the box out unless it was in dirt that
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could be quickly destroyed.
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Too simple? Right, because complex things are easily confused or
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forgotten. If you wanted to increase the complexity, you could arrange the
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first three letters to equal the three letter abbreviation for the month.
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If it were July, the box would look like this:
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COLUMN
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1 2 3 4 5
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ÉÍÍÍÍÍÑÍÍÍÍÍÑÍÍÍÍÍÑÍÍÍÍÍÑÍÍÍÍÍ»
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1 º J ³ U ³ L ³ A ³ B º
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ÇÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄĶ
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2 º C ³ D ³ E ³ F ³ G º
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R ÇÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄĶ
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GROUP 3 O 3 º H ³ I ³ M ³ N ³ O º
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W ÇÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄĶ
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4 º P ³ Q ³ R ³ S ³ T º
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ÇÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄĶ
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5 º V ³ W ³ X ³ Y ³ Z º
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ÈÍÍÍÍÍÏÍÍÍÍÍÏÍÍÍÍÍÏÍÍÍÍÍÏÍÍÍÍͼ
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Prisoners would be required to know something simple, like the month,
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in order to determine the correct box layout.
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If you use common abbreviations, by dropping vowels or at least some
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of them, then the code is more difficult to break by someone whose native
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language is different from yours. Notice that I said "difficult," not
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impossible. The purpose of the code is to permit communications when speech
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is not possible. It is not the purpose to maintain utmost secrecy in these
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communications.
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The variety of methods to transmit this code are not limited to
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tapping on a wall or pipe. Body movements can send code, such as a finger
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apparently idly tapping on a desk, blinking, head nodding, the beat of a
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broom as it is used to sweep floors, etc. Shrugs can mean acknowledgement,
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scratching one's nose can mean "no," pulling the ear lobe can be used to
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signify "yes," etc.
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With a minimum of practice, you can become quite proficient. Be
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careful not to develop the bad habit of sending faster that the other
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person can receive the information.
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If you have other suggestions, please let me hear about them. Thank
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you and I hope you never have to use this material. Here is a message for
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you to translate using the Group 1 box. Each dot represents one tap. There
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is a single space between the two elements making up the letter (... .....
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means the letter P), three spaces between complete letters and eight spaces
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between words.
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.. .. ... .... . .... . .. ... . . ..... .... ...
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.... ... . . ... .. . ..... .... .. .. .... . ... . .
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Here is another message also using the Group 1 box.
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.... .... .. ... . ..... .... .. . ..... . . .... ..
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. ..... ... ... ... .... . .... . ..... ... ..
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... .... . ... .... .. . . .... .... .... ... .. ....
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... ... . . .. . ... .... ..... ... .. ... ... ....
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. ... . .....
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Finally, let's pretend it is July and that we are using code Group 3
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for our communications.
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.... . .. ... . .... .. . .. ... .... ..... ... .
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.... ... . .. .... .... . .. .... . .. ... .... ...
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... .. ... ..... .... ... .. .... ... .. .... ... .. ...
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.... . ... ..... ..... .. .. ... .... ...
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Richard M. Bash
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Owner - Combat Arms
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Castro Valley, California
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Open 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. - Tuesday thru Sunday - Closed Mondays
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Answers: (1) God bless America
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(2) There are no Democrats in a foxhole
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(3) Peace thru superior firepower
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X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X
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Another file downloaded from: The NIRVANAnet(tm) Seven
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& the Temple of the Screaming Electron Taipan Enigma 510/935-5845
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Burn This Flag Zardoz 408/363-9766
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realitycheck Poindexter Fortran 510/527-1662
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Lies Unlimited Mick Freen 801/278-2699
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The New Dork Sublime Biffnix 415/864-DORK
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The Shrine Rif Raf 206/794-6674
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Planet Mirth Simon Jester 510/786-6560
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"Raw Data for Raw Nerves"
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X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X
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