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Score Tech Treasure for Less in Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days

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Score Tech Treasure for Less in Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days


Amazon’s Prime Day sale events seem to come around faster every year, and that’s partly because they are. This is the second Prime Day event of the year, dubbed Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days, and we still have Black Friday to come. But decent discounts on some of our favorite tech gadgets are hard to ignore, particularly if you’re feeling the squeeze. We’ve distilled the latest sale down to this flavorsome brew of discounted devices.

You can find more deals in our categorized Absolute Best Prime Big Deal Days picks and our live blog of bargains.

Updated Oct 8: We added the Twelve South HiRise 3 Deluxe, Sonos Era 100, Eufy E340 Floodlight Security Camera, and Govee Permanent Outdoor Lights Pro.

Table of Contents

Phones and Tablets

  • Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

  • Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

  • Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

  • Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

The Google Pixel 9a is already the best cheap phone you can buy, so another $150 off is not to be sniffed at. Whether you need a new smartphone yourself and don’t want to spend too much, or want to snag it for your partner or kid, the Pixel 9a has loads to offer (flagship Tensor G4 chip, reliable dual-camera system, smart software features, wireless charging, an IP68 rating, and seven years of software support). If you want something a little more powerful, the newer Pixel 10 series is also on sale.

OnePlus 13 (left) and OnePlus 13R (right), two slim mobile phones showing the rear cameras

Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

When the OnePlus 13R came out at the beginning of the year, it was $100 more than its predecessor. Fortunately, the budget-oriented phone is $100 off today, bringing it back down to $500. It gets categorized as a “budget” phone, but with its brilliant 6.78-inch AMOLED screen with its 120-Hz refresh rate really make this feel premium. More than that, it used the same flagship chip Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip in all the best Android phones to come out last year. It’s tough to compete with the incredible deal above on the Pixel 9a, but if you’re looking for something larger and longer-lasting, the OnePlus 13R is also a solid bet.

Front view of an Apple iPad Air M3 2025 propped up on a circular table with the screen showing app icons

Photograph: Brenda Stolyar

Sure, you can get the base 2024 iPad for $279; that’s a great deal on an excellent tablet. But you could also opt for the newer 11-inch iPad Air from earlier this year. It’s much more powerful and future-proof, with support for Apple Intelligence. It can handle the new windowing and multitasking improvements in iPadOS 26 with ease, and it supports the top-of-the-line Apple Pencil Pro that can wirelessly charge and connect to the top of the iPad Air’s edge. Read more about them in our Best iPads guide.

  • Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

  • Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

  • Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

Want an Android tablet instead? The OnePlus Pad 3 is our absolute favorite. It’s a top-of-the-line tablet, meaning performance is stellar thanks to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite. It has excellent speakers, and you can pair it with OnePlus’ keyboard and stylus to get some work done (sold separately). I really enjoy OnePlus’ multitasking system, as it makes it easy to use three apps simultaneously. It also supports super speedy charging. Too bad there’s no fingerprint sensor.

2023 Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet

Courtesy of Best Buy

A 10-inch tablet for $70, even if it is tied to Amazon’s ecosystem, is a hell of a bargain in 2025. There are other Fire tablets on sale, but the Fire HD 10 is Amazon’s best tablet for most people. An octa-core processor is plenty fast enough for consuming Amazon Prime content, there’s a passable full HD (1080p) screen, and it can double as an Echo speaker.

  • Photograph: Nena Farrell

  • Photograph: Nena Farrell

  • Courtesy of Amazon

Amazon

Kindle Colorsoft and Colorsoft Signature Edition

A color Kindle—what everyone always wanted, especially if you’re a comic reader. That’s exactly what the Kindle Colorsoft is. It otherwise looks and feels very similar to the popular Kindle Paperwhite with its 7-inch screen, only with vibrant color added to the glare-resistant screen. This model includes 16 GB of storage, and it’s now just $200. There’s also a more premium model, the Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition, which has more storage, longer battery life, and wireless charging. It even comes with 3 months of free Kindle Unlimited at no extra cost.

Mobile Accessories

Courtesy of Belkin

Belkin

2-in-1 Wireless Charging Pad

Belkin makes a ton of great wireless chargers, but this one neatly bridges new and old devices. It supports the Qi2 charging standard with a magnetic 15W Qi2 pad for your phone, alongside a smaller 5W pad for AirPods or other wireless earbuds. There’s even a spare USB-C port, but because it’s a horizontal pad, you can also charge older Qi devices on it.

  • Photograph: Scott Gilbertson

  • Photograph: Scott Gilbertson

  • Photograph: Scott Gilbertson

  • Photograph: Scott Gilbertson

The Hero 13 Black is the best GoPro, with a new interchangeable lens system that’s far more versatile than any other action camera. You can add an Ultra Wide ($100), Macro ($120), or Anamorphic ($150) lens, and all are automatically detected by the Hero 13 when you connect them. Simple, slick, and satisfying to use.

The Shargeek 170 is a long tube-shaped device with clear case that shows the internal pieces and has an external facing screen.

Photograph: Simon Hill

Sharge

Shargeek 170 Power Bank

Many of the best portable chargers work great at charging up your gadgets but look so boring. This one is a translucent prism with a handy display packed with geeky charging stats. It’s not style over substance either, because this delivers 170 watts, has a 24,000-mAh capacity, fast charges most smartphones, and boasts an IP66 rating for water resistance. It’s one of the best power bank Prime Day deals we’ve spotted.

  • Photograph: Brenda Stolyar

  • Courtesy of Amazon

Smartish

Side Hustle Wallet

This handy, vegan leather wallet magnetically attaches to your phone to ensure all your most valuable belongings stay together. Of course, there are tons of great MagSafe wallets out there that we’ve tested, but this one is really affordable and easy to use. You don’t even have to remove the wallet to access one of the three cards this wallet can hold.

Twelve South HiRise 3 Deluxe Charger

Courtesy of Twelve South

Twelve South

HiRise 3 Deluxe

Don’t miss out if you’re in the market for a wireless charger, this compact 3-in-1 can charge your iPhone, AirPods, and an Apple Watch, and it’s at an even 50 percent off for Prime Day. It doesn’t support the latest Qi2 wireless charging standard, but for Apple loyalists, the HiRise 3 Deluxe is a compact wireless charger that’s chic to boot.

Home and Outdoor Tech

  • Photograph: Nena Farrell

  • Courtesy of Amazon

Amazon

Echo Show 8 (3rd Gen)

The best Prime Day tech deals tend to be on Amazon’s devices, and our favorite Echo Show is a real Goldilocks device: not too small to use, but not so large you can’t fit it on the counter or shelf. The best smart display for Alexa fans, this screen is handy for everything, from asking for recipes to playing music for your kids.

  • Photograph: Parker Hall

  • Photograph: Parker Hall

  • Photograph: Parker Hall

One of the more affordable options on our list of recommendations for best TV, the TCL QM8K QLED has been a surprise hit with our reviewers, thanks to its incredible performance and brightness, making it a perfect option for brightly-lit rooms. Even better, just this weekend, TCL’s QM8K QLED TV was selling for its full price of $1,500, and now it’s only $948. This is the lowest price we’ve seen this bezel-less, 65-inch 4K TV selling for.

Sonos Era 100 speaker

Courtesy of Sonos

Discounts on Sonos smart speakers are rare, but you can snag the entry-level Era 100 for less right now. This speaker sounds fantastic, looks stylish, and responds to voice commands. It works with all your favorite streaming services, has Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity, and can be tuned for your room.

  • Photograph: Nena Farrell

  • Courtesy of Yale

The Yale Approach Lock is currently our number one pick for best overall smart lock. It’s a deadbolt adapter that can retrofit your dumb door into something safer and more convenient. It can even magically unlock your door when it sensors you coming near. Our tester said it was ideal for those who don’t want to have to swap out their front lock and keys. The biometric model is a whopping 47% off right now, while the keypad-less model is the cheapest way in (and is also on sale).

  • Photograph: Simon Hill

  • Photograph: Simon Hill

  • Photograph: Simon Hill

The Wi-Fi 7 Netgear Orbi 770 Series is simply the best mesh Wi-Fi system for most folks right now, and it has never been cheaper. A tri-band mesh (2.4-, 5-, and 6-GHz) that’s simple to set up and use, the Orbi 770 delivers speedy internet over a wide area. Upgrade to Wi-Fi 7 for new features like MLO (Multi-Link Operation) to enable Wi-Fi 7 devices to connect on multiple bands simultaneously. Basic security is built in, but you need to subscribe if you fancy enhanced security and parental controls (not required).

Image may contain: Electronics, Camera, and Webcam

Photograph: Simon Hill

After testing many, this is my pick of the best indoor security cameras because it offers crisp video, local storage, and accurate AI to detect subjects. Video resolution goes up to 2K, there’s color night vision, and it recognizes people, pets, and vehicles pretty accurately. Throw in two-way audio support and a siren function for scaring intruders away, not to mention up to 512 GB microSD card support, and you have an irresistible deal.

  • Photograph: Simon Hill

  • Photograph: Simon Hill

If you’re okay with a subscription, the Arlo Pro 5 (or 5S, they are identical) is the outdoor security camera to buy. Great quality footage, color night vision, a spotlight and siren, and a slick app that’s quick to load the live feed are all tempting reasons to buy, but it’s the accurate AI detection and rich notifications that make this the best of the best.

Image may contain: Person, and Security

Photograph: Simon Hill

Security cameras with floodlights are great for your garage or backyard, since motion triggers light and color video. The E340 is a dual-lens camera with a 3K wide angle lens and a 2K telephoto lens for up to 8x zoom to capture details up to 50 feet away. Adjustable light panels provide up to 2,000 lumens. It also pans 360 degrees and tilts 120 degrees, and records locally to a microSD card or to a HomeBase 3 (both sold separately).

Fitbit Charge 6

Courtesy of Fitbit

We’ve liked the Fitbit Charge 6 ever since its launch back in 2023, and it’s still the best fitness tracker you can buy. Our reviewer calls this model the “sweet spot” between attractiveness, affordability, accessibility, and ease of use.” Unless you’re an ultra-marathoner, this is likely as much tech as you need to hit your lofty fitness goals.

Grey square device sitting in the grass with large handles on each side and outlets, screens, and button the front

Photograph: Simon Hill

You can go off-grid or work through a power cut with one of the best portable power stations, and Anker’s Solix C1000 is my pick for happy campers. Molded handles for easy carrying, a handy LED bar on the front with three brightness levels, and a chunky 1,056-watt-hour capacity make this worth packing for your next trip. It can also double as an uninterruptible power supply with a 20-millisecond delay.

Govee Outdoor Lights

Photograph: Govee

Govee

Permanent Outdoor Lights Pro

Light up your home for Halloween or just whenever with these fun lights from Govee. You can snag 100 feet, sporting 60 RGBIC LEDs, or double that, both at a hefty discount. Like all of our favorite Govee smart lights, you can choose colors, brightness, animated scenes, and automations in the jam-packed app. These IP67-rated lights are designed to be permanently attached to the outside of your home for all your holiday celebrations or just classy lighting year-round.

Laptops

Front view of an open Apple MacBook Air 13-inch 2025  laptop sitting on a couch with the screen showing the desktop

Photograph: Brenda Stolyar

Apple

MacBook Air (M4, 2025)

Need a new laptop? Your best bet is Apple’s MacBook Air. It was released earlier this year and is powered by the latest M4 chip. It’s plenty powerful, and the 13-inch screen is nice and bright. Apple updated the webcam, so you’ll look sharper, and there’s now double the RAM. You’ll have to get used to the limited two USB-C ports, but this is otherwise an incredible value at $799. Read our Best MacBooks guide for other options.

Front view of a laptop sitting on a wooden desk with the image of an island on the screen

Photograph: Brenda Stolyar

Microsoft

Surface Laptop (7th Edition, 2024)

Our resident laptop expert says the Windows-powered Surface Laptop 7th Edition is a fantastic MacBook alternative with a Snapdragon X Elite chip, and a 120-Hz, 13.8-inch touchscreen with a unique 3:2 aspect ratio, giving you more vertical height than the average laptop. Qualcomm’s next-gen Snapdragon X2 chips aren’t due for a while, so this is worth biting on. Just make sure you get the right model (not the newer, cheaper Surface Laptop 13).

Front view of the Lenovo Chromebook Duet, showing the tablet attached to the keyboard with landscape scenery on the screen

Photograph: Daniel Thorp-Lancaster

Lenovo

Chromebook Duet Gen 9 (11 Inch, MediaTek)

If you need a laptop more as a travel companion or study buddy, the Lenovo Chromebook Duet Gen 9 has a unique mix of affordability and portability. It’s only an 11-inch screen, so the detachable keyboard is a little cramped, but outside of an iPad, you won’t find anything quite so charming and fun to use. It has a surprisingly good display for a cheap Chromebook too.

PC Accessories

  • Photograph: Luke Larsen

  • Photograph: Luke Larsen

  • Photograph: Luke Larsen

  • Photograph: Luke Larsen

Dell

32 Plus 4K QD-OLED Monitor (S3225QC)

The Dell 32 Plus 4K QD-OLED is one of the few OLED monitors not aimed at gamers, making it tempting for home workers, video editors, and content creators. It boasts over 1,000 nits of peak brightness in HDR, strong audio, and beautifully crisp 4K image quality. It’s one of the best monitors on the market right now, and it’s actually pretty good for gaming, too.

Razer BlackWidow V4 keyboard

Photograph: Razer

This mechanical keyboard is our favorite for gamers. The BlackWidow V4 75% has a smaller, more compact layout, which is great for tiny desks. The factory-lubed Razer Orange switches have a nice tactile bump, and it’s satisfying to type on. The RGB lighting is customizable, and the 8,000-Hz polling rate is more than enough for fast-paced games. It’s not wireless, but that means you won’t have to keep it charged.

Logitech MX Master 3S, a black computer mouse, on top of a leather mousepad

Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

Logitech

MX Master 3S For Mac

Supremely comfortable, this do-it-all office mouse might just be the best ergonomic mouse you can buy. With well-placed thumb buttons, a horizontal scroll wheel, and gesture buttons that can all be configured to your preferences, there isn’t much to complain about. This version is optimized for use with a Mac. (Keep in mind that Logitech just released the MX Master 4, which is just $20 more.)

Courtesy of Elgato

You can snag yourself a desktop productivity boost with this diminutive gadget that offers tailored shortcuts at your fingertips (it can do a bunch of stuff). Speed up your creative process, use it as media controls, or configure complex Excel functions: the choice is yours. You can get far bigger, more complicated, and more expensive Stream Decks, but this is a good option for most folks.

WD Elements

Photograph: Western Digital

Western Digital

Elements Desktop Hard Drive (14 TB)

It’s not sexy ,and the transfer speeds are nothing to write home about (120 megabytes per second for sequential writes on Windows), but this drive is a great way to back up your digital life. Set up overnight incremental backups, and you’ll squeeze value from this reliable digital filing cabinet. It supports USB-C and USB 3 and works with Windows, macOS, and Linux.


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Light-activated gel could impact wearables, soft robotics, and more

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Light-activated gel could impact wearables, soft robotics, and more



Consider the chief difference between living systems and electronics: The first is generally soft and squishy, while the latter is hard and rigid. Now, in work that could impact human-machine interfaces, biocompatible devices, soft robotics, and more, MIT engineers and colleagues have developed a soft, flexible gel that dramatically changes its conductivity upon the application of light.

Enter the growing field of ionotronics, which involves transferring data through ions, or charged molecules. Electronics does the same, with electrons. But while the latter is well established, ionotronics is still being developed, with one huge exception: living systems. The cells in our bodies communicate with a variety of ions, from potassium to sodium.

Ionotronics, in turn, can provide a bridge between electronics and biological tissues. Potential applications range from soft wearable technology to human-machine interfaces

“We’ve found a mechanism to dynamically control local ion population in a soft material,” says Thomas J. Wallin, the John F. Elliott Career Development Professor in MIT’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering and leader of the work. “That could allow a system that is self-adaptive to environmental stimuli, in this case light.” In other words, the system could automatically change in response to changes in light, which could allow complex signal processing in soft materials.

An open-access paper about the work was published online recently in Nature Communications.

A growing field

Although others have developed ionotronic materials with high conductivities that allow the quick movement of ions, those conductivities cannot be controlled. “What we’re doing is using light to switch a soft material from insulating to something that is 400 times more conductive,” says Xu Liu, first author of the paper and former MIT postdoc in materials science and engineering who is now an incoming assistant professor at King’s College London.

Key to the work is a class of materials known as photo-ion generators (PIGs). These can become some 1,000 times more conductive upon the application of light. The MIT team optimized a way to incorporate a PIG into polyurethane rubber by first dissolving a PIG powder into a solvent, and then using a swelling method to get it into the rubber.

Much potential

In the material reported in the current work, the change in conductivity is irreversible. But Liu is confident that future versions could switch back and forth between insulating and conducting states.

She notes that the current material was developed using only one kind of PIG, polymer (the polyurethane rubber), and solvent, but there are many other kinds of all three. So there is great potential for creating even better light-responsive soft materials.

Liu also notes the potential for developing soft materials that respond to other environmental stimuli, such as heat or magnetism. “We’re inspired to do more work in this field by changing the driving force from light to other forms of environmental stimuli,” she says.

“Our work has the potential to lead to the creation of a subfield that we call soft photo-ionotronics,” Liu continues. “We are also very excited about the opportunities from our work to create new soft machines impacting soft wearable technology, human-machine interfaces, robotics, biomedicine, and other fields.”

Additional authors of the paper are Steven M. Adelmund, Shahriar Safaee, and Wenyang Pan of Reality Labs at Meta. 



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Dark Matter May Be Made of Black Holes From Another Universe

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Dark Matter May Be Made of Black Holes From Another Universe


A recent cosmological model combines two of the most eccentric ideas in contemporary physics to explain the nature of dark matter, the invisible substance that makes up about 85 percent of all matter in the universe. To understand it, it’s necessary to look beyond the Big Bang we all know and consider two concepts that rarely intersect: cyclic universes and primordial black holes.

A Different Kind of Multiverse

There are different versions of the “multiverse.” The most popular model—that of the Marvel Cinematic Universe—proposes that there are as many universes as there are possibilities and that these versions of reality are parallel. Physics proposes something more sober and mathematically consistent: the cosmic bounce.

In this model, the universe is not born from a singularity, but expands, contracts, and expands again in an endless cycle. Each “universe” is not parallel, but sequential—that is, one arises from the ashes of the previous one.

Is it possible for something to survive the end of its universe and endure into the next? According to a paper published in Physical Review D, yes. Author Enrique Gaztanaga, a research professor at the Institute of Space Sciences in Barcelona, shows that any structure larger than about 90 meters could pass through the final collapse of a universe and survive the rebound. These “relics” would not only persist, but could also seed the formation of giant, unexplained structures observed in the early stages of the present-day universe. Moreover, they could be the key to understanding dark matter.

For decades, the dominant explanation for dark matter has been that it is an unknown particle or particles. But after years of experiments without direct detections, physicists have begun to explore alternatives. One of them proposes that dark matter is not an exotic particle, but an abundant population of small black holes that we overlook.

The idea is appealing, but it has a serious problem. For these black holes to explain dark matter, they would have to exist from the earliest moments of the universe, long before the first stars could collapse. There are indications that these objects could exist, but a convincing physical mechanism to explain their origin is lacking.

A Universe Born With Black Holes

This is where Gaztanaga’s newly proposed model shines. If cosmic bouncing allows compact structures to survive the collapse of the previous universe, then the current universe would have already been born with pre-existing black holes. They would not have to have been generated by extreme fluctuations or finely tuned inflationary processes, but would simply have been there from the first instant.

The assumption has the potential to solve two riddles at once: the origin of black holes and the nature of dark matter. If this model is correct, dark matter would not be a mystery of the early universe but rather a legacy of a cosmos that predates our own.

“Much work remains to be done,” Gaztanaga, also a researcher at the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation at the University of Portsmouth, said in an article for The Conversation. “These ideas must be tested against data—from gravitational-wave backgrounds to galaxy surveys and precision measurements of the cosmic microwave background.”

“But the possibility is profound,” he added. “The universe may not have begun once, but may have rebounded. And the dark structures shaping galaxies today could be relics from a time before the Big Bang.”

This story originally appeared in WIRED en Español and has been translated from Spanish.



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Europe’s Online Age Verification App Is Here

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Europe’s Online Age Verification App Is Here


The European online age verification app is ready.

The app works with passports or ID cards, is built to be “completely anonymous” for the people who use it, works on any device (smartphones, tablets, and PCs), and is open source. “Best of all, online platforms can easily rely on our age verification app, so there are no more excuses,” said European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen at a press conference on Wednesday. “Europe offers a free and easy-to-use solution that can protect our children from harmful and illegal content.”

High Expectations

“It is our duty to protect our children in the online world just as we do in the offline world. And to do that effectively, we need a harmonized European approach,” von der Leyen said at Wednesday’s press conference. “And one of the central issues is the question, how can we ensure a technical solution for age verification that is valid throughout Europe? Today, I can announce that we have the answer.”

This answer takes the form of an open source app that any private company can repurpose, as long as it complies with European privacy standards and offers the same technical solution throughout the European Union. The user downloads the app, agrees to the terms and conditions, sets up a pin or biometric access, and proves their age through an electronic identification system, or by showing a passport or ID card (in which case biometric verification is also provided). The app does not store your name, date of birth, ID number, or any other personal information, according to the European Commission—only the fact that you are over a certain age.

After that, when a person using the app wants to access a social network (minimum age: 13), pornographic site (minimum age: 18), or any other age-protected content, if they are logged in from a computer, they need only scan the QR code shown on the site they want to visit. If, on the other hand, the person logs in from a smartphone, the app sends the proof of age directly. The platform does not access the document with which the user proved it in the first place.

Adoption Event

The need to introduce a common system for the entire European Union has been discussed for some time, and according to commission technicians, the technical work is now complete. Of course, it will still be possible to circumvent the system—all it takes is for an adult to lend their phone to a younger friend—but the technological architecture exists, and it will be up to EU member states to decide whether to integrate it into national digital wallets or develop independent apps.

“No More Excuses”

For the app to really be effective, platforms must be obligated to verify the age of their users—that’s where things get tricky. The Digital Services Act, which went into effect in 2024, requires “very large online platforms”—those with more than 45 million monthly users in the European Union—to take concrete steps to mitigate systemic risks related to child protection, with heavy penalties for noncompliance.

“And that’s why Europe has the DSA: to call online platforms to their responsibilities. Because Europe will not tolerate platforms making money at the expense of our children,” European Commission executive vice president Henna Virkkunen told a press conference. She added that after an investigation into TikTok, the European institutions plan to take similar action against Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat, as well as four porn sites. “Since the platforms do not have adequate age verification tools, we developed the solution ourselves,” he concluded. In short, as von der Leyen also remarked, “there are no more excuses.”

Bare Minimum

So far, this is the European framework that sets the general rules. On this basis, member states can consider more restrictive measures. Italy was among the first to discuss how to regulate the use of social media by minors but has so far not landed on anything concrete. Elsewhere in the EU, France’s Emmanuel Macron has been a trailblazer on the issue, pushing France to discuss a rule to ban social networks for minors under the age of 15 entirely. So far, this measure has received broad political support—but the outcome depends largely on compatibility with the Digital Services Act and the availability of effective age verification systems like the app the European Commission just released.

This article originally appeared on WIRED Italia and has been translated.



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