What Mouse and Keyboard Are You Using Right Now?

I don't know better mouse software, that's one of the reasons because I use A4Tech.
It's light and after you store your macro/commands you can turn it off.

(sorry for the late answer)

To me the best software is no software.

I never install any software that ships with hardware. No mouse software, no keyboard software, no AIO software not even GeForce Experience.

It's drivers and drivers only :p

I know this is an old school sentiment from the single core and RAM is precious era, but I keep my system clea . I don't want any bloat running in the background. I wish Microsoft would stop including bloat in their OS and trying to force it on me...

...and I have a 24C/48T Threadripper and 64GB of quad channel RAM. I don't think I'll ever trust any scheduler enough that background tasks won't impact the performance of my primary tasks.

That, and you never know what bullshit your mouse software is sending home to the mother ship. The less software installed the better.
 
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No harm in run once or as needed software to program the HW as long as it's stable and doesn't need internet access.
 
It's bound to happen to any company eventually. How often and how a company responds to problems is what I tend to value and judge them on. That said, I haven't had any problems with Cherry and I'm inclined to prefer my German cousins unless problems pile up :).

MX Blue RGB seems a likely candidate.


As long as the tactile bump was pronounced enough and I hear the click I'd probably be happy. Not having a hot swap board keeps me safe from the temptation to try something new :p.


Thanks.
Yep, that's true. But then think about how long it took Cherry to update their equipment (just like Unicomp). This is what actually opened the door for competitors because if they would have just stayed on top, competitors would have had to 'prove' an advantage. With what happened all they had to do was make them like Cherry once did.

The tactile bump and click is really good on a lot of these, in fact, better than Cherry in most cases. The only two non-model M boards at my workstations that I daily is each a 'blue' variant, one is Cherry and one is Ometau (or however you spell that). And I actually prefer the ometau.
 
To me the best software is no software.

I never install any software that ships with hardware. No mouse software, no keyboard software, no AIO software not even GeForce Experience.

It's drivers and drivers only :p

I know this is an old school senyiment from the single core and RAM is precious era, but I keep my system clea . I don't want any bloat running in the background. I wish Microsoft would stop including bloat in their OS and trying to force it on me...

...and I have a 24C/48T Threadripper and 64GB of quad channel RAM. I don't think I'll ever trust any scheduler enough that background tasks won't impact the performance of my primary tasks.

That, and you never know what bullshit your mouse software is sending home to the mother ship. The less software installed the better.
Preach it brother!! I hate modern OSes because of this fact. If I wanted you to call home, I will tell you to call home:
tumblr_oa1ytyuJFd1qc44efo3_250.gif


Luckily, you can block this sort of non-sense at the router level, but it's a pain since you also need Internet access for certain things on said systems too. So I lock them down and then 'nuke them from orbit' every so often with the original image from when I set them up. 'Only way to be sure.'

nuke_it_from_orbit.jpg
 
To me the best software is no software.

I never install any software that ships with hardware. No mouse software, no keyboard software, no AIO software not even GeForce Experience.

It's drivers and drivers only :p

I know this is an old school senyiment from the single core and RAM is precious era, but I keep my system clea . I don't want any bloat running in the background. I wish Microsoft would stop including bloat in their OS and trying to force it on me...

...and I have a 24C/48T Threadripper and 64GB of quad channel RAM. I don't think I'll ever trust any scheduler enough that background tasks won't impact the performance of my primary tasks.

That, and you never know what bullshit your mouse software is sending home to the mother ship. The less software installed the better.
The mouse had internal memory and 7 different profiles so everything can be stored in it and you can turn off the software. I am like you everything that I don't need is closed :)
Here is a random video which can show part of the opportunities of this software, because it is very powerful.

View: https://youtu.be/WHSGwDd6Bds
 
The mouse had internal memory and 7 different profiles so everything can be stored in it and you can turn off the software. I am like you everything that I don't need is closed :)

Ah, that is good!

I would probably take it a step further.
1.) Use a windows VM.
2.) Snapshot it.
3.) Disable network interfaces.
4.) Attach and forward USB device
5.) Install software.
6.) Configure device
7.) restore snapshot, removing any trace of software
8.) Re-enable network interfaces.
 
Ah, that is good!

I would probably take it a step further.
1.) Use a windows VM.
2.) Snapshot it.
3.) Disable network interfaces.
4.) Attach and forward USB device
5.) Install software.
6.) Configure device
7.) restore snapshot, removing any trace of software
8.) Re-enable network interfaces.
It's terrible the lengths we have to go to in order to have 'clean' systems, but it's the only way to be sure anymore. I sure miss the DOS days when you simply changed your autoexec and config.sys back and that was it.
 
It's terrible the lengths we have to go to in order to have 'clean' systems, but it's the only way to be sure anymore. I sure miss the DOS days when you simply changed your autoexec and config.sys back and that was it.

I just find it obnoxious how much stuff is hidden from the end user.

I want to control every aspect of my system, not just have mystery processes running in the background I don't know what they do. Most of them are probably fine, but some of them might be malicious, depending on how you look at things. Anyway, we are trending off topic, so I am going to censor myself here and move back towards the topic of Mice and Keyboards :p

Apart from the fact that I am wearing some of the rough surface finish of the OG Ducky shiny, I really do like this keyboard. If it were easy/cheap I'd replace it, but since that doesn't seem to be the case, maybe i"ll just try to clean it up myself.

I bet I can take the top case off and apply a few layers of black plasti-dip and it would look really nice. At least for a while.

I don't know how resistant plasti-dip is to wear, but given the fact that it was originally sold to cover tool handles, I'm guessing it is at least pretty good.
 
I just find it obnoxious how much stuff is hidden from the end user.

I want to control every aspect of my system, not just have mystery processes running in the background I don't know what they do. Most of them are probably fine, but some of them might be malicious, depending on how you look at things. Anyway, we are trending off topic, so I am going to censor myself here and move back towards the topic of Mice and Keyboards :p

Apart from the fact that I am wearing some of the rough surface finish of the OG Ducky shiny, I really do like this keyboard. If it were easy/cheap I'd replace it, but since that doesn't seem to be the case, maybe i"ll just try to clean it up myself.

I bet I can take the top case off and apply a few layers of black plasti-dip and it would look really nice. At least for a while.

I don't know how resistant plasti-dip is to wear, but given the fact that it was originally sold to cover tool handles, I'm guessing it is at least pretty good.
I'll just leave it as 'I agree'. :D

I wouldn't do platidip at all! It gets really terrible as it ages and getting it to be 'smooth' will be an exercise in futility. If it really bothers you, just polish the whole thing to match. :D
 
I wouldn't do platidip at all! It gets really terrible as it ages and getting it to be 'smooth' will be an exercise in futility. If it really bothers you, just polish the whole thing to match. :D

I have no real experience with the stuff, so I'll take your word for it.

I wonder if just a few coats of Matte Black Rustoleum would look good.
 
I have no real experience with the stuff, so I'll take your word for it.

I wonder if just a few coats of Matte Black Rustoleum would look good.
There was a point where it was a fad to paint car wheels with it...until it flaked off and made a mess. Plus, the application was like a paint in that runs were hard to fight, etc. Pretty nasty stuff for a temporary color change. It never looked that great to me.

Would the rustoleum stick well without primer and sanding though? And if that's the case, just sanding the case would make it uniform again anyways.
 
Would the rustoleum stick well without primer and sanding though?

No it would not... sanding & priming are an essential part of the prep work that is required if you want a smooth, professional looking, and durable paint job...Been there, done that, several times over with pc cases....

However, if you really insist on painting your keys, you should try either A) The acrylic enamel paint that is made for plastic model kits, OR nail polish..both of which lcan be top-coated with a clear sealer, are pretty durable and tend to last a long time, but still requires the above prep work either way :D

And yea, PlasticDip is great for somethings like tools or tennis/raquetball raquets/pingpong paddle grips, but I would definitely not use it on keyboards or key caps...
 
Soooo...you're going to hate me...lol...

Here's what you wanted:
https://www.modelfkeyboards.com/product/classic-f104-model-f-keyboard/
https://www.modelfkeyboards.com/product/ultra-compact-f104-model-f-keyboard/

The patent is expired on the buckling spring so this guy went ahead and started a project that netted him some cash, then he made another and another and now he's rolling in dough. He started out as just another enthusiast but was a bit of douche ime, and I think that still applies. Hence why I haven't tasted the koolaid yet. Also, the fact that his original batch keyboards are now available 50% of their original price and much shorter wait times...
I've got the original F77 from there, it does feel like my XT keyboard with a nicer layout. I would like one of the "model m case" style ones since I didn't think I would but did end up having problems with the raised sides when playing games but not when typing so I took it to work and use it there. The keycaps are actually really nice though.

I wish he'd spent a little time on some industrial design though. Would be nice to try to backlight them a little too. I have come to really like the subtle backlight in my Ducky. I can mostly touch-type, but the downside to learning to type at home is that I was self taught before I got any instruction on typing, so my touch typing will never be perfect. Occasionally I have to look, and in the dark, having a low level backlight is key for me these days.

He is like 90+ % of the way there for me. I may look into one at some point.
It's basically 2 steel plates with a PCB smashed together in between them and tubes for the cap/spring like on the model m so that would be interesting to see lol. I had to take mine apart to get one flapper working and you pry some tabs on the steel plate and slide them apart.

Hot swap is the way to go imo. I can't tell a difference between my evga z15 and a cheapy aoc or some other off brand 'blue' switch board that my hands like enough to daily. I think it's more about the sum of the parts than the individual components that make up the feel because there's only 2x blue boards that my hands like enough to daily out of the many that I have.
Yeah, I was thinking it might feel different, because maybe the hotswap switches aren't as solidly connected to the board as soldered ones.

You know, sortof how it feels different to type on two part Model M keycaps than it does to type on the one part ones, because that top cap is ever so slightly loose.
Hot swap is nice to test switches but my GMMK 2 Pro has issues with switches not registering and you have to pop them off and put them back in which is pretty annoying. I was using it as my main keyboard for a bit but relegated it to test bed because of that.

Akko's switches aren't bad either tbh and they're cheap as dirt, I put some in that GMMK board I mentioned and actually like them. (I use tactile fwiw)

LOL. You aren't kidding. I almost laughed out loud at "$350 is a little steep". I mean, it is, but you spend time on the keeb subreddits and people are talking about $600 group buys with a case made from a block of milled aluminum, and, I dunno, platinum inlays or something. It's absolutely insane.
The crazy priced copy-pasta TKL boards are so absurd to me, great you changed the outside shape a bit is that really worth 4-600 dollars? They're all mostly clones of each other and who cares what the colour of a "weight" is at the bottom you can't see lol.

I'm currently using one of those heavy metal keyboards at the moment and it's pretty nice and actually somewhat unique compared to other "groupbuy" kbs.

On another note, a coworker bought the TKL mini model m from unicomp and it's a lot crisper than my 2014 104 and feels a lot closer to the model fs, not sure if it's just from use or the membrane is that much better.
 
On another note, a coworker bought the TKL mini model m from unicomp and it's a lot crisper than my 2014 104 and feels a lot closer to the model fs, not sure if it's just from use or the membrane is that much better.
This is quite impressive. How does it compare to your F77?

I never really thought it if but the expensive project boards showed the guys at unicomp that there is a market for high-end m/f boards. But if unicomp can deliver the f feel for even less, they're going to win out in the long run.
 
This is quite impressive. How does it compare to your F77?

I never really thought it if but the expensive project boards showed the guys at unicomp that there is a market for high-end m/f boards. But if unicomp can deliver the f feel for even less, they're going to win out in the long run.

For years I've been saying that if Unicomp raised some funds to do an industrial redesign of their Model M's, making them feel more modern, and maybe adding a little backlighting and modern features (native USB that doesn't suck, n-key rollover, etc.) they would have a real winner on their hands. Heck, I'd pay $300 for that...

The thing about unicomps right now though is that they feel a little "janky". The modifications to the molds to get rid of IBM branding and shrink the case feel like they were done poorly. The fit and finish is pretty bad, and the USB capability is probably just an internal USB to PS2 adapter. It has terrible initialization time making it very difficult to enter the BIOS during boot. They also gave up on black keys as their old ones were pad printing and the lettering had a tendency to wear off.

If they were to just take the same switch concept, redesign the board with modern features (NKRO, native USB, LED backlighting) shooting LED light up the center of the springs, and attaching double shot keycaps, and brand new molds designed with a bit more modern industrial design they would have the best keyboards on the market bar none, and they could charge accordingly.

Unfortunately for too long they've been treating it like a cash cow and avoiding investment to stay current. That's only going to last so long. Their molds are clearly worn, and their tech and aesthetics are very outdated.
 
This is quite impressive. How does it compare to your F77?

I never really thought it if but the expensive project boards showed the guys at unicomp that there is a market for high-end m/f boards. But if unicomp can deliver the f feel for even less, they're going to win out in the long run.
It's still much heavier and not as crispy, it's better but the F is still another tier above but if you like model Ms then it's great. I would say if I hadn't gotten the new model F I'd be perfectly happy with it.
 
For years I've been saying that if Unicomp raised some funds to do an industrial redesign of their Model M's, making them feel more modern, and maybe adding a little backlighting and modern features (native USB that doesn't suck, n-key rollover, etc.) they would have a real winner on their hands. Heck, I'd pay $300 for that...

The thing about unicomps right now though is that they feel a little "janky". The modifications to the molds to get rid of IBM branding and shrink the case feel like they were done poorly. The fit and finish is pretty bad, and the USB capability is probably just an internal USB to PS2 adapter. It has terrible initialization time making it very difficult to enter the BIOS during boot. They also gave up on black keys as their old ones were pad printing and the lettering had a tendency to wear off.

If they were to just take the same switch concept, redesign the board with modern features (NKRO, native USB, LED backlighting) shooting LED light up the center of the springs, and attaching double shot keycaps, and brand new molds designed with a bit more modern industrial design they would have the best keyboards on the market bar none, and they could charge accordingly.

Unfortunately for too long they've been treating it like a cash cow and avoiding investment to stay current. That's only going to last so long. Their molds are clearly worn, and their tech and aesthetics are very outdated.
Unfortunately this is what ends up happening in business. :( Cherry did the same thing spawning a whole industry of clone switches when if they would have retooled their factories sooner than waaayyy too late, they would have basically held a strong monopoly.
 
It's still much heavier and not as crispy, it's better but the F is still another tier above but if you like model Ms then it's great. I would say if I hadn't gotten the new model F I'd be perfectly happy with it.
Interesting. Heavier and less crispy as in key press, or as in sound/feedback?
 
Because I am dumb? or bored I decided I needed a new board?? and mouse.. So I wanted to try a hotswap keyboard and also a smaller form factor without spending very much money so this is my $60~ GMK67 with Outemu Silent Lemon V2 switches and a Womier PBT keycap set all from aliexpress. It is fine, switches are fine it is quieter than my filco not sure if everyone would like these switches they are fine for me, but the tactility is pretty minimal, if you told me they were linear I probably wouldn't doubt you.
I don't know about the 65% form factor I think if i build a more expensive Hotswap board it will be TKL.

The mouse I decided to try because it was $30~ on aliexpress and so I ordered it because it was one of few ambidextrous wireless mice I could find out there, amusingly my order got messed up (got refund)... still wanted mouse decided to buy it on ebay which was more like $50 but whatever... Anyways it is a Lenovo Legion M600 *note to anyone that may want an ambi wireless mouse, the new version of this mouse the M600S is not ambidextrous.. because everyone hates left handed people apparently?

I have only been using the mouse a bit today, I like it so far it is pretty big and probably sort of heavy for the apparent trend of 40gram mice .. but I have big hands and don't like super light mice so this is ok with me, pair fine with bluetooth on my pc so that is good.. the GMK67 also has been perfect so far with the bluetooth connection. I may have enough ambi mice stockpiled now to last the rest of my life? which is good because I am not sure when anyone is going to be bothered to make new ambi designs?

I also made a new cable for my filco so I could swap keyboards without having to fish cables out from behind my desk, which i hate doing and so I never use my other keyboards. Anyways it is slightly longer than people may generally want, but It is perfect as it goes to a usb extension cord under my microphone..so works nicely

View attachment 601269View attachment 601267View attachment 601266
You're gonna hate me more than I hate myself. I just dropped off at Starbucks with a "free" note on it a brand new GK GAMAKAY LK67 RGB Modular DIY Mechanical Keyboard, 67 Keys Hot Swap 3pin/5pin Switch, Programmable Triple Mode Bluetooth 5.0/USB-C Wired/2.4GHz Wireless Customized Keyboard Kit (Milky White)
61lVz9-tGgL._AC_SL1500_.jpg



I thought about the community here but thought the shipping on it would probably not be worth shipping it to someone who wanted it, just for free. I guess I should have offered it :(
 
You guys are probably gonna hate me. I got these free for doing reviews on them. It's a pain in the ass because I have to charge all of them every 6 month just so the batteries don't become damaged from discharge. One thing I like about the Logitech G305s is that they take a AA battery, so no charging.

I took the original caps off and found some decent XDA profile pudding caps (REALLY hard to find XDA). I'd never use XDA and they are now my favorite cap of all time. They're flat! There is no incline per row, just flat all the way across. They have a small finger tip border so you know you're on the cap, but no other inclination/declination etc, and they are REALLY low profile. If you haven't tried XDA profile, you should at least give them a try.

A partial lising of the parts below:

Mistel X-VIII Mechanical Keyboard with Cherry MX Brown Switch​

NACODEX AK873 TKL
HEXGEARS X3 TKL
HEXGEARS X1 Pro 60%
NACODEX K870T Pro
Akko Black&Gold 3098 Akko CS Jelly White Linear Switch
Ajazz K870T
Akko, Cherry, Gateron etc switches (about 300+)
2 sets of HyperX pudding keycaps (They don't come in XDA of for smaller boards, just standard key layout), and about enough other brands of keycaps to do all of the boards below twice.
MICE:
x2 ROCCAT Kone XP Air.
x1 ROCCAT Kone Pro Air
x2 Logitech G305


PXL_20231019_015816654.jpg


Out of all of them, I only use the NACODEX AK816Pro 75% Gasket Mount Keyboard and the ROCCAT Kone XP Air mouse. I have some really nice Akko white jelly linears, but the the Gaterons that it came with are boxed, and are pretty nice, so I just kept them.
 
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You guys are probably gonna hate me. I got these free for doing reviews on them. It's a pain in the ass because I have to charge all of them every 6 month just so the batteries don't become damaged from discharge. One thing I like about the Logitech G305s is that they take a AA battery, so no charging.

I took the original caps off and found some decent MDA profile pudding caps (REALLY hard to find MDA). I'd never use MDA and they are now my favorite cap of all time. They're flat! There is no incline per row, just flat all the way across. They have a small finger tip border so you know you're on the cap, but no other inclination/declination etc, and they are REALLY low profile. If you haven't tried MDA profile, you should at least give them a try.
Agreed on batteries, the less one needs to charge the better, give me wired any time I'm close enough. Flat keys and low profile sounds like the kind of laptop keyboards I dislike :p.
 
Agreed on batteries, the less one needs to charge the better, give me wired any time I'm close enough. Flat keys and low profile sounds like the kind of laptop keyboards I dislike :p.
Not flat like laptop. they have ridges around them, but the profile is flat. They feel nothing like a laptop keyboard. You can find a cheap set and try them. My favorite profile now. I use to like OEM.
 
Are you sure you're not thinking of DSA or something (maybe XDA)? I went looking and MDA is supposed to be a sculpted profile, sort of like SA but not so tall.

picture from https://thekeeblog.com/overview-of-different-keycap-profiles/#MDA_Profile_by_Melgeek
View attachment 607420
Good catch! Yes, XDA! Will change in post. Very sorry about that. I could only find one set of XDA that would fit the Nacodex AK816Pro:

61J5yK3qQ6L._AC_SL1000_.jpg


It was this set here which is really surprisingly good quality vs price, almost as nice as the HyperX, but not quite.

LTC LavaCaps PBT Double Shot 117-Key Pudding Keycaps Set, Translucent XDA Profile

716z5-O-0SL._AC_SL1500_.jpg
 
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I got a Drop CTRL with the Holy Panda X switches based upon a recommendation from a coworker.

It is pretty awesome, based upon a half-day of hacking on it. I personally need a good bit of resistance on a key before actuation, and this is really nice. My other kb is a zealio, and feels very similar overall. This feels a bit more refined, but I suspect that is more about the housing than the switches. I have not dug in.

Also, check out my leet RGB skills. (Also - really hard to make them just white. This sorta-blue is the best I could do. I'll survive.)
1699485615920.png
 
I did some more searching, and found a keyboard I think I like. It's called "Code"

http://codekeyboards.com/

They have the LED's on top of the switches like I like, come in basic black, with simple backlighting that shines mostly (only?) through their doubleshot keycaps, and have green switches.

I might buy one. Or five.


Of course the one I want is like $200....

....and is out of stock.


I wonder if it is yet another one of those "permanently out of stock" keyboards, like all the green switch ones on mechanicalkeyboards.com
 
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I did some more searching, and found a keyboard I think I like. It's called "Code"

http://codekeyboards.com/
I have 2 CODE keyboards, and love them. I originally got it because it was one of the few that came with the MX Clear switches. I later got a Zealio based model as well.

The pure white lighting is stellar, the build quality is great.

Edit: It is interesting they're all out of stock. Not sure what's up. Back when I was shopping, it was all there.
 
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I have 2 CODE keyboards, and love them. I originally got it because it was one of the few that came with the MX Clear switches. I later got a Zealio based model as well.

The pure white lighting is stellar, the build quality is great.

Edit: It is interesting they're all out of stock. Not sure what's up. Back when I was shopping, it was all there.

Thank you for the endorsement.

I am going to have to keep checking back and hope the greens return to stock.

At $200 though, they are a little pricy for my plan to "buy 5 of them while in stock just incase" :p
 
I have 2 CODE keyboards, and love them. I originally got it because it was one of the few that came with the MX Clear switches. I later got a Zealio based model as well.

The pure white lighting is stellar, the build quality is great.

Edit: It is interesting they're all out of stock. Not sure what's up. Back when I was shopping, it was all there.

This is interesting. I just realized the codekeyboards link forwarded me to WASDkeyboards homepage.

I wonder if they acquired them?

Or maybe it was just their product line all along? I remember the name WASDkeyboards from years back, but I do not recall hearing about CODE before.
 
This is interesting. I just realized the codekeyboards link forwarded me to WASDkeyboards homepage.

I wonder if they acquired them?

Or maybe it was just their product line all along? I remember the name WASDkeyboards from years back, but I do not recall hearing about CODE before.
It’s always been a line made by wasd.
 
Interesting. The reason I thought that might not have been the case is that they had a separate domain (codekeyboards.com)

Either way, I keep hearing good things, and they look right up my alley, so I hope they come back into stock!

I reached out to WASD. They let me know they expect them to be back in stock in 2-3 months time.
 
Despite my disappointment with the Nuphy Air60, I gave them another shot with their new Air75v2. Glad I did! This one fixed everything I found lacking on the Air60. Wireless mode is good (BT & 2.4), bigger/better battery, built-in flip down feet instead of those wretched magnetic plugs. The 75v2 now has full QMK/VIA capability, too. I opted for the Aloe 37gf switches this time. My typing speed really picked up once I got used to the light touch. If you're interested in a low-profile wired/wireless mechanical keyboard, I'm happy to give this one my highest recommendation. Nuphy now offers the Air60v2 if you prefer a smaller keyboard.

PXL_20231111_213221670.jpg
 
I upgraded my MX Master 3 to the Master 3S for only £1 recently, which was nice.

MX Keys and Master 3S for productivity.
Endgame XM2we for gaming.

20231207_010408.jpg


The funny thing is because Logitech don't backwards support unifying on the Bolt dongle, you also need the unifying dongle for non-Bolt devices. And the XM2we has its own high speed dongle of course. So my front ports are... chock full.

20231207_010553.jpg
 
I upgraded my MX Master 3 to the Master 3S for only £1 recently, which was nice.

MX Keys and Master 3S for productivity.
Endgame XM2we for gaming.

View attachment 618503

The funny thing is because Logitech don't backwards support unifying on the Bolt dongle, you also need the unifying dongle for non-Bolt devices. And the XM2we has its own high speed dongle of course. So my front ports are... chock full.

View attachment 618504

Sounds like they need a new unified dongle to unify all the dongles!
 
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