iPad也能干正事:谈谈如何学术

iPad想必大家不会陌生。毕竟这个工具已经存在了好几年,其产品本身也从最原始的一代经历到了4代。作为一个爱好计算机和相关电子产品的人,我也终于抢在了结婚前搞定了自己的iPad。其原因呢有二:一则因为我实在是受不了Kindle的那个屏幕。尽管电子墨水看书实在是很爽(事实上,我在国际航班上一般只用Kindle看书),但是其有限的翻页功能拿来看书实在是有点蛋疼;二则,婚后财政大权一旦交出,恐怕要拿到此类消费的许可需要更高的时间和信息成本(此类研究参见XXXX,XXX和XXXX)。

曾经有一个朋友买了个iPad,在网上留言说不知能干吗。于是我说,你可以让iPad干点正事啊,它其实并不仅仅是游戏机。当然,这个回复引起了其相当不快,谓之周围朋友没有人把iPad当正经东西。对于此番回复,我等自然一笑了之。一则没必要为此等小事伤了和气,二则也悄悄地满足了下本人这种穷书生所特有的穷酸,如电视剧《天道》中的丁元英般”坐井说天阔“。自鸣得意,却让旁人吐之。然而更最重要的是,此类用法并非三言两语即可道明。故,本文的目的在于介绍笔者是如何通过iPad来装学术帝的。

  1. 文献的同步和阅读

    学术帝与其他正常人类的一大区别就是喜好的不同。在其他正常人类都在为黄色小说和各种八卦新闻而喜闻乐见之时,我们正在埋头苦读文献。待到读得两眼发昏,食不知味,两眼木然之时,若有朋友表示此种自虐行为是否值当,我们便会笑问:你知道”会计“的定义有十六种说法么?当然,学术帝的爱好远不如此。事实上,我们会穷尽各种所能来变着法子读文献:比如大屏幕手机,PS,甚至于MP3。然而,相比较iPad,这些设备可真是弱爆了。那么我们如何来充分利用手中的iPad来高科技地读文献呢?

    或许有人说,这个有何难?不就是把一堆PDF文件一股脑儿放进iPad里,然后打开阅读器开读么?我想说的是,孩子,您真是图样图森破了。如果这样读文献的话,何以显示出我们学术帝异于常人的思维呢?毕竟我们手头除了iPad还有台式机,还有笔记本,说不定有时候还得征用老婆大人的漂亮电脑。难道每次我们都得利用数据线?即使我们有着强大的内心和耐心,我怕iPad的数据接口有受不了旷日持久的虐待啊。显然,我们需要另辟蹊径,充分利用各种周边资源,以达到我们的终极目的——装!

    作为学术帝,其日常最重要的工作就是各种文献的搜集和归类。这点对于现在大多数的高校而言都不会是什么问题。常用的,比如我,会使用Google Scholar进行跨库搜索。不得不说,在我看来,谷歌的学术搜索好过任何一个所谓的跨库搜索引擎,比如ABI,WOS等。尤其是在知道作者或者关键词的情况下,Google往往会让搜索变得简单而靠谱。如果我们只是有了几十篇文献,或许使用一个简单的文件夹并使用手工命名不会有太大的问题。对于比较勤快的和女性(没有鄙视的意思),这个忍受度可以上升到数百篇。然而对于我而言,硕士阶段的几十篇文献已经让我有了世界末日般的恐惧。对于我等懒人而言,本着能不动绝不自动,能自动绝不手动的伟大方针,我就开始尝试使用了Endnote。更何况现在PhD,面对的是数百篇的鸟语。若是让我手工整理分类,我。。。我宁可去啃鸡腿(哎,吃货的本质,脑子里永远只有吃)。然而,正如大多数的老牌软件更愿意吃老本一般,我们可爱的Endnote童鞋始终固守着Windows和Mac传统平台,对于iPad这类移动设备熟视无睹。尽管他也不痛不痒地推出了一个Endnote Web,但是那个对于移动设备而言毫无用处:一则,他需要特定的浏览器插件;二则,它不支持全文同步。至此,依靠Endnote这位大爷来伺候我们的iPad妹纸显然是不太可能的事儿了。要想完成我们的终极目标第一步,我们就得给iPad另找个如意郎君。

    而文献管理新星Mendeley则为我们的目标实现向前迈进了一大步。与传统的Endnote所不同的是,Mendeley基于当前流行的云服务,其所有的题录和对应的全文都会被上传到服务器。每个免费用户都能得到1G的免费空间。更重要的是,Mendeley有着很好的跨平台支持,iOS平台有着其官方的应用,而Android则有根据其API开发的第三方程序。更重要的是,对于导入的PDF文件,Mendely会自动搜索并给出相关条件。相比较Endnote的纯手工导入,Mendeley可谓前进又一大步。

    mendeley
    Mendeley的软件界面,很酷吧?

    对于学术帝而言,单纯的阅读显然是不够的。因为我们是有思想的人,所以我们必须乱涂乱画(官方名称:批注)。于是我们的要求便是写的开心,画得开心,而且还得能够同步到别的电脑。显然,iOS版本的Mendeley依然无法符合我要求:因为其自带的PDF阅览器实在是不咋地。而由于苹果平台并不开放文件系统,任何第三方修改的文件都无法保存到原来的位置。显然,在Mendeley的坑爹PDF阅读器更新之前,对其同步批注后的文稿我是直接不指望了。更现实地,我们需要网盘同步服务的帮助。

    Mendeley提供的另一个服务为我们的下一步行动提供了极大的便利。资深学术帝们一般都会对大量的文件名和重命名表示出极大的愤慨。尽管我们都知道文件名的意义,但要一个一个手工修改实在不是个轻松活。而Mendeley则能够自动为我们根据对应题录吧文件名改为“作者-年份-论文名”的标题格式。并且能够把所有的文献都统一存到事先规定的文件夹。套用电视购物的台词:是的,你没有听错,原来3小时的工作,现在只需要几十秒!

    paper collection
    这难道不是每一个学术帝(学术屌丝)的梦想么?

    万事俱备,只欠东风。既然有了文件夹,我们需要的就是同步工作了。对于此类工作,我首选大名鼎鼎的Dropbox。由于Dropbox对于跨平台的支持极好,我们可以在iOS,Android等移动平台以及不同Windows版本和Mac OS等设备之间同步。这样,我们就有了一个稳定的数据源,同时也可以丢掉那个该死的U盘了。要知道,自从搞定这个系统以后,我上办公室就只带饭盒包了,哈哈哈

    iPad的平台并不开放文件系统,于是Dropbox客户端本身其实意义并不大。因为我们的要求不仅仅是网络-iPad的单向传输。我们需要的是两者可以交互。在这个档口,iOS平台上著名的阅读器GoodReader为我们提供了便利。其对Dropbox优良的支持使得我们可以让文件夹在iPad和Dropbox服务器之间同步。更重要的是,他们实现了我们在iPad上阅读并批注文献,然后及时回传的要求。

    1
    这就是Goodreader的界面。由于Mendeley自动修改了文件名,这里的列表看起来与文献列表别无二致

    由于iPad提供的触摸屏的优势,在iPad上对于文献进行标注要比传统电脑键盘容易得多。更重要的是,由于修改后的文档依然是电子文档,这就比传统的打印稿归档容易得多。更不用担心自己认不出自己的鬼画符了,哈哈哈

    2
    这个就是Goodreader阅读器的界面,是不是很方便呢?
    3
    而这个则是回传到电脑上以后打开的界面

  2. 一些专业应用:iPad有别于其他平板的特色

    事实上,在我当初购买平板之时,我也曾犹豫是购买iPad还是Nexus 7. 对于这两大阵营的产品,其优点和缺点都是非常明显的。iPad的优点就在于其iOS的稳定性和流畅性,以及基于此系统的优秀的应用,而劣势则是其相对高昂的价格;Nexus 7正相反,其有着Google的坚强后盾,性价比超级高,但却缺乏专业级别的应用。既然要装学术帝,那一些专业的应用是少不了的。首先,与天朝不同,美帝的一些专业组织对于学生是免费开放的。比如著名的美国注册会计师协会。在取得会员资格以后,我们就可以使用他们的一款应用,其中提供了大量的会计方面的专业信息和免费的电子版《journal of Accountancy》。怎么样不错吧?

    这是美国注册会计师协会的应用首页。登陆以后,该APP会滚动显示最新的信息
    photo 2
    这是最新一期的JoA。不得不说美国人的拓展性思维,在这个杂志上经常可以看到一些不是那么会计的文章。

    与此同时,另一家叫做Accounting Today的机构也有一个不错的应用。更重要的是,他们家的APP是免费使用的!

    photo 3
    这是Accounting Today的界面。今年是他们第一次做电子期刊。之前都是报纸格式的。

    当然,著名的美国会计学会(AAA)也不会错过这个机会。只是AAA的应用主要就是学术类的论文,当然,对于我们来说,这绝对是装学术帝的神器啊,呵呵。只是他们的HTML文字太小。在我的iPad2上看着很难受,不知道新的视网膜屏幕会不会好些。只是他们最后提供PDF选项,这样就没问题了。鉴于学术文章的特殊性,我一般还是更喜欢PDF格式的文档。

    photo 4
    今年最新一期的Accounting Review哦,哈哈哈

    此外,iPad上的Zinio应用也可以订阅一些期刊,比如著名的Economist,他们的价格比iPad上的Newsstand价格要便宜不少,接近一半。只是Economist的一些文章看起来真的不是那么休闲。并且由于其不支持取词功能,在查询单词时只能重新输入。但好处是:这样相当于学习了一遍单词。

    photo
    经济学家,考研英语阅读的重要来源之一啊!
  3. 最后一招:词典

    如前所言,大部分的学术资料都是英文的。这是与目前世界格局所相匹配的。曾记得我导师跟我说,我们是很讲公平的,所以我们对你的英文要求与英国学生是一样的。听完这话,我心里就十万只草泥马飘过。好吧。这就是所谓的公平。然而,为了能够顺利地装学术帝,这点亏还是吃得。但是,正由于我们是“装”的学术帝,其内在水平自然不可与真正的货色同日而语。为了避免在遇到真正的学术帝时候尴尬,我们需要做一点准备。所谓狡兔三窟,我们自然需要给力的英文字典了。

    我可是朗文字典的铁杆粉丝哦
    我可是朗文字典的铁杆粉丝哦
  4. 写在最后的话

    所谓装都需成本,对于我们也是一样。用iPad装学术帝并不是一个便宜的买卖。事实上,除了iPad本身的设备价格外,我们需要支付各种订阅费用和软件费用。这其实也是一笔不小的开支。更不用提由于“装”这种行为本身带来的心理压力等隐性支出了。所以,诸位,请三思而后行哦,呵呵

 

Words for Spring Festival, 2011: English Version

There are two reasons that eventually promote me writing this post in English, even though I have published one with similar topic in Chinese some hours ago. The first reason is a kind suggestion from Justin, both my colleague and good friend, says that he can hardly understand what I said on the blog since they are mainly in Chinese, the other reason, however, is on myself. I find my writing skills in English is declining very greatly in past few months, and I wonder, it is time for a practice now.

  1. An Alternative Post for This Festival

    This is not a replication of the Chinese post, and I would never try to do that for any reason, since it is meaningless. The expression and style that adopt in two different languages varies, and the objective from readers deviates. In this post, I would try to get rid of most trivialities that happened in my daily life, but taking something more serious into account. It is a choice that can both regards as a compromising between my willing and existing English writing competence, and a preference from myself, that is willing to use English as my working language.

  2. My Favor to Literature Reviews

    The accident happened last week indeed provided me some more time for my own reading and thinking , and I appreciate this opportunity greatly. For my research, I would temporarily get out of the world of bank and insurance, but focus on some newly published reviews on Journal of Accounting and Economics. In fact, I am crazy on reading reviews, especially those published on topic journals, because they do provide fast and efficient approach to the broad understanding on what had happened in past decade within the field of academic, but not only a narrow space that I am devoting to.

    This habit of reading reviews, as well as retelling classic papers are from the training that I took in Shanghai some years ago, a special program provided by TJ Wong and Joseph Fan, willing to promote the standardization of research in mainland China for business school faculties. During those two weeks, we took a very fast review on the studies that has been existing in past decades. Though they are mainly transferred to the regional studies in China later, the focus on reviews, or say, sufficient attention to fundamental questions and theory brought me great impression, which largely changed my taste.

    Comparing to those reviews published in 2001, which undoubtedly are revolutionary works, those published recently seems to be more intense. If regarding the 2001 reviews as introduction to contemporary studies in accounting and finance, I mean, the 2010 reviews however, focus on more intense questions. Taking the first review written by Amstrong for example ,which investigates the relation between corporate governance and debt contract, you would find numerous paragraphs critique previous works in past decade. This, indeed, is very beneficial for me, a rookie researcher, to learn how to aid my thinking.

  3. Accounting Issues in Banking Sectors: Interesting but  Challenging

    But a conflict is raising here, which comes from my study plan for PhD and my willing to a solid foundation. I suppose this conflict would go with me for the coming new year. Obviously, my willing to devote myself into the field of banking sectors, an area that I had nearly no specific knowledge and even missed some fundamental knowledge, is not a push from Professor Peasnell and O’Hanlon, but my determination on its prosperous perspective. The financial crisis from 2008 really beat the whole world, and made regulators be aware of the importance for their monitoring to this field, the investors be more focus on the specific knowledge in this industry. Undoubtedly, economic loss, or even depression would be the best lessons for anyone to take.  It is this transfer focus that made the studies in this field being popular and hot. However, a fundamental question that I shall ask myself is: can I handle this successfully?

  4. Perspective of 2011: Can Time Swipe Anything Away?

    Coming to Lancaster this winter, and being supervised by two great and kind professors, is really an excellent news for making my own dream come true.  But it is a transfer with high transaction cost, since my specific knowledge based on the market in China is indeed of quite little value to the studies conducted in mainstream academic world, and this largely reduces its transferability. Anyway, I would also have to face the troubles on my communications with colleagues and supervisors due to the barrier comes from cultural difference and my language capability.

    Anyway, to be or not to be, it is not a question here. The question here is substituted to how it can be. Perhaps time is the optimal solution for this formula, but how long would the time be? Who knows…https://blog.gujun-sky.com

Farewell to 2010: A New Start

不知道我在哪里看到过这么一句话说“浑浑噩噩间,新的一年又来到”。于我现在而言,那就真的可以说是浑浑噩噩了。由于一些非常杯具的原因,我错过了这里最热闹的圣诞节和元旦。而在对中国人而言这个最重要的节日里,你感受不到一点“年味”。这里全然一副除了春节,地球照样转的架势。人们依旧忙碌着,上课、实验、读论文、跑数据。唯一能让你感受到快过年的就是我办公桌上的宣传册了吧?哈哈。

  1. 廉颇老矣

    在写这个博客之前,我特意看了下前两年的新年寄语。不知道是年龄的关系,或许是长大了的关系,还是变得没有追求了呢?我研一和研二时候的新年寄语总是那么激情四射,那么富有野心。而现在的我,坐在书桌前却全然没有了那种感觉。正如有句话说的好,当一切成了习惯,也就是你无聊的开始。如果说我研一痴迷于数据库和Stata;研二痴迷于各种的学术规范和学术范式;而研三则疯狂于各种申请,那么我真的不知道我现在对什么有兴趣了。

    或许在家三个月睡傻了吧,老爸老妈坐月子般的大补使得我的体重急速增加,而与此对应的是,我头脑中的学术的思想和感觉却在一点一点消逝。以至于我飞越了半个地球,来到Ken爷爷的办公室的时候,我已经是彻底SB到连CAPM是啥都快不知道了。我以前引以为豪的英语在这里也出了大问题,舌头打结,脑子成了浆糊。。。反正各种杯具每天不断的上演。用句网络流行语叫做:哥们正在被各种喜剧和杯具折腾,神马统统都是浮云!

  2. 2010年的关键字:给力

    不过这一年真的还是很给力的,只是给力到我有点受不了。在这一年里,我两次挑战了中国境内最高级别的英语考试(GRE),同时挑战了英联邦的英语考试(雅思),更是挑战了中国境内最高学历的入学考试(中山大学博士入学考试)。当然,我也同时第一次用那社会主义教育下的英文接受了兰卡会计系第一口才杨哥的长达45分钟的单挑。不过我到现在都没想明白,我当时居然可以把英语说的那么流利。但是真的跟杨哥见面时,我第一句英文就卡壳了!

    作为昔日财大公认的“学术帝”,一些学术的回顾也是必须的。不过很惭愧的是,这一年我的学术成果是最少的。尽管说在老板的大力支持下,我还是搞定了《南开管理评论》和《南开公司治理评论》(名字应该没错吧?),算是给我三年的那个被反复炒的冷饭找了个不错的归属。同样,这一年我跑的会议也非常少。唯一的一个就算是会计学院的研究生学术大会了吧。拜唐院长赏识,我很“不要脸”的跟四位财政部会计学领军人物(学术类)同台参与了上午的主题报告。当然,其实那次的表现我很不满意。对付这种主题报告,讲一篇单一的论文显然不是个好选择。

    2010年的夏季,注定是难忘的。因为在这里,我们经历了友情、爱情的温馨和离别的痛苦。研究生三年的情谊在这个夏天被瞬间爆发。除了毕业论文,我们不再关心学术。我们唯一能做,也愿意做的事情就是吃饭和喝酒。由于大部分的同学都走入了政府部门和大型央企、国企以及投行,或者各类上市公司,我们将此称之为踏上社会前的最后一次练兵。我在想,那次跟我对门的Julian在厨房对喝了大半杯子啤酒没啥反应(别笑我,我是滴酒不沾的),估计也是那会儿的功劳吧,呵呵。道聪,文强,但愿你们能看到这篇文章,我这表现也算没辜负你们的培养吧?哈哈

  3. 2011年:静待花开的声音

    对于新的一年,我实在是不想多说什么。Ken爷爷说的很好,路需要一步一步走。作为一个合格的科研人员,具有扎实的基础非常重要。我这一年的工作,不出意外的话,就是把我以前的基础整个儿推倒重来。不过我也很庆幸,我以前那很不让老板待见的会计学基础终于有了大规模更新的机会。

    至于研究方向,我可能会转向金融保险业的研究。但是具体还没有定。因为研究方向的确定很大程度决定了未来能做到多高的水平。尽管说以后可以转换话题,但是转换成本是不低的。毕竟这类知识往往属于专业知识,按照交易成本理论来说,由于他们潜在的不可转换性而导致的交易成本是非常高的。呵呵。当然,如果有可能,我会尽可能关注尽可能多的领域。不是有个著名学者说过么?商学院的顶级学者要能够有广阔的知识面。Ken和John两位爷爷对我的要求也是具有会计学,金融学和经济学足够的知识和了解。哎,任重而道远啊!

  4. 最后的祝福

    最后的祝福永远属于大家。特别的,我祝我远在中国的父母身体安康,生活如意;祝远方的你在新的一年里越来越漂亮,生活如意。我想告诉你,其实不需要对自己那么苛刻,让自己舒心,让朋友放心,让家人安心就好啦。钱多固然很好,但是为钱所累就不值得了。

    此外,我祝所有的朋友,国内的,国外的,无论你是否读到了这篇文章,都祝您“兔年大吉”!

Quality or Quantity: A Puzzle for Researchers

Frankly, this is not a suitable topic for me due to my limited experience on both research and academic given my present education as only a graduating master’s student. However, my limited experience, as well as my coming PhD life in Lancaster, do bring me an opportunity to think about: when doing some research, given two dimensions as measurement of the work as quality and quantity, which shall I prefer?

  1. Approaching

    I got to know the importance of publication when I was a student in Nanjing Normal University, where there was a professor that used to be, and is still devoting much to publish his so-called papers to various journals. He was quite fond of this, and take pride of his ‘works’. In fact, I was totally misunderstand by him that in my mind at that time, publication means everything related to money. You get your paper published since you paid for that. This misunderstanding is only partially recovered when i continued my study in Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, a present school of mine, and participated some conferences.

    I learned much more on the essentials of publication when taking part in the research work, following my supervisor, who is quite a determined researcher at that time. Gradually I find that , more than 99% of the papers that the professor, whom I met in Nanjing Normal University, are totally junks. Neither contemporary research methodology nor the standard research framework is adapted. Thanks for the supervision of Professor Wang, my master’s supervisor, that taught me both the methodology and framework that a contemporary researcher should be able to master.

    Three years study following Professor Wang does broaden my horizon. I learned he cuteness of publication, the benefit that may bring you through the publication. for me, writing papers do bring me great opportunity of travelling and talking to the professors outside. the 20008 trip to Honolulu is still admired by many of my classmates even today. What’s more, it is the publication and its attraction promoted me another chance, i participated the training camp for young researchers in business school of mainland China. it is in that speech I got to know two famous professors, Joseph and TJ. Their two-week lecture that summer bring me better understanding of this field. Though I can hardly use that freely at present.

  2. Quality or Quantity: Two Different Principles

    In fact there has been contradictions following the words of Joseph and TJ, and the styles that most Chinese scholars adapt. If it is not the online discussion with Li this afternoon, I won’t write this post. Li is both a faculty of jinan University and a post-doctoral fellow in CEIBS, a top business school in China. Thanks to Li that I learned, the routine that Joseph and TJ suggested should be regarded as a fitness for those who are willing to publish on top journals. but, it is necessary to aware that publishing on top journals can be time consuming, and what’s more, it is fully risky. I don’t know much about publications in UK, but in China, a faculty without any publication for a couple of years would mean quite a lot, much more than the publication itself.

    so the questions following this discussion raised. Quantity or quality, which do you prefer? I suppose there is no scholar, no matter whether he/she is a world renowned professor or a fresh PhD candidate, would reject the willing of publish high-quality paper, given no consideration on particular capability here. A widely accepted publication with good reference recording can significantly promote your reputation within the field of study, and, you would be able to contact with good scholars. However, you have to pay for that.

    The pride for such a paper, indeed, includes years of hard working, good understanding of classical papers and fundamental theory, as well as the risk of rejection by the editorial board. Can you afford that? Frankly speaking, i don’t think I would afford this, especially when I am working for an academic institution in China. Only adequate publications can help bring you promotion, which means higher social status and better income. In my opinion, the policy on publication may also contribute a lot to the reduction of education quality nowadays of most universities in China. Do you think the students can be offered good education when their teachers are busying with the publication and have no time to prepare for the courses?

  3. An Unanswered Question

    For my own preference, it is hard to tell here. I do want some of my own works with good quality and reputation within my field of study. However, it is quite ideal to talk about that with my present knowledge as well as my unexpected future. As is suggested by a ‘Top-down’ framework that indicates the high priority of institutional background, obeying the rule is, though sometimes contradicting your willing but undoubtedly, an optimized choice.

LYX: A New Written Instrument

经过几天的奋斗,终于完成了研究计划的初稿。12页的英文写作果然不是闹着玩的。累的我差点小命送掉。不过这次我也得到了一个教训,那就是,只有自己熟悉的东西才能做好,永远不要轻易去尝试你所不了解的事情。不过首当其冲要感谢的,则是我在Linux下新伙伴,LYX。这个系统同时给了我LATEX系统的便捷,也让我享受到了可视化编辑的乐趣。我之所以喜欢LATEX,是因为在我结束了最后一个字符的同时,我的文本排版也在倾刻间完成了。这是Word系统远远不能比拟的。

我不知道现在新版本的LYX是否支持了JabRef的管道功能。至少在我于Windows系统上使用LYX 1.5的时候,该项功能是不支持的。在LYX中输入参考文献的唯一方法是直接在系统自带的BiBTEX中跟据Key来寻找。这是一个非常费力而且容易出错的工作。尤其是对于我这样的习惯Endnote的人而言,不能从文献管理工具直接插入Citation,而是需要如此的手工操作直接就是一场噩梦。另外,如Bill所言,Java在Linux下的执行效率相当高,这也为我电脑上流畅运行JabRef提供了保证。

说到JabRef,我不得不同时提到另一个工具。该工具是Firefox下的插件,叫做Zotero。这个插件可以非常高效从Google Scholar,JSTOR等数据库中快速提取Reference,并且记录。此类技术,比较Endnote的导入工作,显得更进了一步。当然,不可否认,Endnote可以使用大部分英文数据库的Direct Export。这也是非常有吸引力的。

最后要提到的Bibtex的自动生成Reference。不知道为什么,我总觉得BiBtex显示的效果要比Endnote要漂亮。Lyx还有一个很人性化的功能。就是你在插入Citation的同时,可以选择显示方法,比如王小二(2009)要改成(王小二,2009)。这点比Endnote需要手工修改来的容易的多。

总而言之,我觉得Ubuntu+Lyx+Zotero是一个不错的选择,绝对不亚于Windows+Word+Endnote。有兴趣的朋友可以去试试看哦。

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