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Saturday, June 25, 2011

Vatican to launch Internet news portal next week (AP) : Technet

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Vatican to launch Internet news portal next week (AP) : Technet


Vatican to launch Internet news portal next week (AP)

Posted: 25 Jun 2011 04:34 AM PDT

VATICAN CITY – The Vatican is taking a leap into the world of new media next week with the launch of a news information portal that Pope Benedict XVI himself may put online with a papal click.

Vatican officials said Saturday that Benedict has been following the development of the portal — http://www.news.va — which will for the first time aggregate information from the Vatican's various print, radio and television media in a one-stop-shop for Holy See news.

The portal is being launched Wednesday, the 60th anniversary of Benedict's ordination as a priest. Monsignor Claudio Maria Celli, who heads the Vatican office that developed the portal, said Benedict may put the site online himself with a click from the Apostolic Palace.

TechLife on a $100,000 lava-proof razor, how to sneak Facebook at work, Obama’s tweets, and more (Yahoo! News)

Posted: 24 Jun 2011 07:25 PM PDT

Welcome everybody to TechLife on Tecca TV, where we give you the top 5 technology-meets-lifestyle news stories in only 5 minutes. We hope to bring a little Friday Fun to you every week! If you missed last week's edition, be sure to check it out!

This week, Techlife discusses a $100,000 lava-proof shaving razor, an app specially designed to hide Facebook from your boss, a massive "10,000 year" clock built into a Texas mountainside that will outlive us all, an old-school phone booth equipped with Skype and an iPad, and President Obama's decision to tweet in his own words.

Show Notes:

More from Tecca:

Clever "Facebook Song" Pokes Facebook Foibles [VIDEO] (Mashable)

Posted: 24 Jun 2011 05:43 PM PDT



Check out this talented Aussie girl's clever musical composition, extolling the virtues and pitfalls of Facebook with a wall of words, quality guitar playing and her own unique style.

[More from Mashable: WATCH: New York Senate Votes on Gay Marriage Bill [LIVE VIDEO]]

This is not the first "Facebook Song" we've heard, but we think it's one of the best.

Even though she's mostly complaining about a variety of Facebook faux pas, she has a great voice and super technique. Her voice reminds us a little of Rickie Lee Jones, but she's gone way beyond that, touching on something new.

[More from Mashable: Mini Glee Fan Is Way Smoother Than You [VIDEO]]

She's got soul. Excellent.

[via Geekologie]

This story originally published on Mashable here.

LulzSec hackers say disbanding after last data dump (Reuters)

Posted: 25 Jun 2011 07:43 PM PDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Lulz Security group of rogue hackers announced it was disbanding on Saturday with one last data dump, which included internal AOL Inc and AT&T documents.

LulzSec, which gained wide recognition for breaching the websites of Sony Corp, the CIA and a British police unit among other targets, said in a statement that it had accomplished its mission to disrupt corporate and government bodies for entertainment.

"Our planned 50 day cruise has expired, and we must now sail into the distance, leaving behind -- we hope -- inspiration, fear, denial, happiness, approval, disapproval, mockery, embarrassment, thoughtfulness, jealousy, hate, even love," the group said.

Known for irreverence and a fondness for naval metaphors, the hacker group took to Twitter -- the microblogging site where it had more than 277,000 followers -- to release its statement.

A link to the release also was posted on http://www.lulzsecurity.com but there was no way to independently contact the group to confirm the release.

The abrupt dissolution came a few days after LulzSec threatened to escalate its cyberattacks and steal classified information from governments, banks and other major establishments.

LulzSec also had said it was teaming up with the Anonymous hacker activist group to cause more serious trouble.

"... Our planned 50-day cruise has expired," the hackers said in their statement, "and we must now sail into the distance, leaving behind -- we hope -- inspiration, fear, denial, happiness, approval, disapproval, mockery, embarrassment, thoughtfulness, jealousy, hate, even love. If anything, we hope we had a microscopic impact on someone, somewhere. Anywhere."

CLOSING IN?

In what could be a sign that cyber police were making progress toward shutting down LulzSec, British police said on Tuesday they had arrested a 19-year-old man on suspicion that he was connected to the attacks on Sony, the CIA and a British police unit that fights organized crime.

London police declined to say if the teenager was a member of LulzSec but the hacking group said on Twitter that he had hosted one of its chatrooms on his computer server.

The arrest came after Spanish police earlier this month apprehended three men on suspicion they helped Anonymous.

So far LulzSec's publicized assaults have mostly resulted in temporary disruptions of some websites and the release of user credentials.

The data the group released Saturday was a mixed bag.

Reuters was not able to access all of the files but those that were available included a list of routers -- devices that handle Internet traffic -- and their passwords, as well as account information for an Irish private investigation service. The AOL documents appeared to be elements of an internal technical manual.

A file list on a download site indicated there also was some AT&T internal data in the dump, although the nature of that data was not immediately clear.

AOL was not immediately available for comment, while an AT&T spokesman did not have immediate comment.

(Reporting by Ben Berkowitz and Paritosh Bansal; Editing by Tiffany Wu and Bill Trott)

LulzSec hacker group says Internet rampage over (AFP)

Posted: 25 Jun 2011 07:41 PM PDT

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) – Lulz Security hacker group said that it has ended an Internet rampage that included cyberattacks on videogame companies, police and even the CIA's website.

"For the past 50 days, we've been disrupting and exposing corporations, governments, often the general population itself, and quite possibly everything in between, just because we could," the group said in a message uploaded to The Pirate Bay file sharing website on Saturday.

"It is time to say bon voyage," the message concluded. "We must now sail into the distance."

The Lulz farewell contended that the group had a crew of six people and implied the plan from the outset was for the hacking campaign to last 50 days.

While it remained to be seen whether members of the group would truly stop bedeviling the Internet, it was unlikely police would abandon efforts to track them down.

Lulz Security has claimed responsibility for hacking the websites of the Central Intelligence Agency, US Senate, Sony and others.

On Thursday, the group released hundreds of documents from the Arizona Department of Public Safety in its latest cyberattack.

Lulz Security, or LulzSec, provided a link to the more than 700 documents on its website, LulzSecurity.com. The group said it was protesting Arizona's immigration laws.

The documents included information on drug cartels, street gangs, informants, border patrol operations and the names and addresses of members of the Arizona Highway Patrol.

Lulz Security said in a message at the time that it planned to release more classified police or military documents weekly.

"Behind the mask, behind the insanity and mayhem, we truly believe in the AntiSec (anti-computer security) movement," Lulz Security said.

A British teenager suspected of involvement with the Lulz Security hacking spree has been remanded in police custody in London.

Ryan Cleary, 19, was arrested at his home in Wickford, southeast England, as part of a probe by Scotland Yard and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation into Lulz Security.

On Wednesday, British police charged Cleary with targeting the website of Britain's Serious Organized Crime Agency -- the British equivalent of the FBI -- with a Distributed Denial of Service attack.

DDoS attacks overwhelm websites with requests, causing them slow down or be inaccessible.

Lulz Security has staged a number of DDoS attacks on websites, including that of the CIA, but the group has also carried out a number of large-scale data thefts.

"In the Lulz group, they know what they are doing when it comes to breaking into places," PandaLabs technical director Luis Corrons told AFP.

"It's their way to say the security here sucks and we are going to show you why," he continued. "Based on the way they act, I would say they are young people."

For months, the hacker group brazenly ramped up its antics as waves of cyberattacks showed how poorly defended many networks are against Internet marauders.

Lulz has claimed in recent weeks to have cracked into Sony, Nintendo, the US Senate, the Public Broadcasting System news organization and an InfraGard, which works with the FBI.

The group flaunted its notoriety with a telephone hotline for people to call and suggest targets for cyberattacks.

"These guys are upsetting a lot of people," said Corrons, whose cyber-threat research team is part of Spain-based Panda Security. "They think they will never be caught, and that could be their biggest mistake."

Archos Unveils $349 10-Inch Tablet with 250 GB Hard Drive (ContributorNetwork)

Posted: 25 Jun 2011 12:28 PM PDT

Contribute content like this. Start here.

Faster, better, cheaper: Pick any two. Archos seems to have chosen better and cheaper for its upcoming "G9" Android tablets, where "better" means "more powerful" and "more storage space." But will that make either of them a better choice than the iPad 2?

The specs, and what they mean

The Archos G9 will come in two flavors, the 8-inch and the 10.1-inch. Both will have a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor, which may make them more powerful than similarly-priced PC laptops. These are Android tablets, though, so you're not going to be running PC apps on them.

What will you be using them for? Archos' pedigree involves making media players, and the G9 tablets are designed for heavy-duty HD video watching. Both can supposedly play 1080p video without breaking a sweat, unlike the iPad 2 (which doesn't even have a 1080p display), and will be able to output it through their HDMI ports without needing a special adapter.

Oh, and those videos? A 16 GB iPad 2 can hold about half a dozen 720p HD movies, depending on filesize, and that's if you don't put any music on it or take any pictures with it. The Archos G9 Android tablets will have 250 GB hard drives, letting them hold up to 40 movies in full 1080p.

Not so good with the "apps" thing

The G9s' biggest downside may be in the apps department. First off, the Android Market doesn't have nearly as many tablet-specific apps as the App Store does. And no, the G9s won't be able to run the 65,000 iPad apps; only an iPad can do that.

Second, app loading times. Think of how long it takes for an app or game to load on your smartphone. Well, the bottleneck isn't processor speed; it's how fast it can load the data off of whatever it's stored on. And the flash memory used by the iPad (and most smartphones and memory cards) is a heck of a lot faster than your laptop's hard drive.

The Archos G9s will be using hard drives instead of flash memory. So while it may be too early to tell, it's probably a safe bet that games and apps will take longer to load than on other tablets.

More downsides to the tablet

Another thing to consider is that Archos has never been known for its devices' quality. Power? Yes. Screen size? You betcha. But build quality and ease of use? Not really. They're harder to quantify, but they can be the difference between a tablet you love and a cheap piece of junk that won't do what you want it to.

Archos' previous devices had their fans, but they didn't have Android Market access and tended to have resistive touch screens; Nintendo DS-style single-touch screens that you used with a fingernail or a stylus. Neither of these design decisions screamed "quality."

The promo video for the G9s shows that they'll have capacitive, iPad-style multitouch screens, though, while Archos' press release promises Android Market access. So maybe Archos has learned its lesson. But with prices as low as $349 for the 10-inch tablet, and $279 for the 8-inch model, one has to wonder what design tradeoffs were made.

More details

Neither tablet will ship with 3G capability, but 3G wireless Internet access can be added via a $49 adapter and a pay-as-you-go plan. The tablets will be available at the end of September.

Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.

Poggled founder on bringing drink specials to your Android device (Appolicious)

Posted: 25 Jun 2011 09:00 AM PDT

Appolicious Meet the Members: Eric Swayne (@eswayne) (Appolicious)

Posted: 25 Jun 2011 02:00 PM PDT

How the poll was conducted (AP)

Posted: 25 Jun 2011 06:34 AM PDT

WASHINGTON – The Associated Press-GfK Poll on the debt ceiling was conducted by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Corporate Communications from June 16-20. It is based on landline and cell phone telephone interviews with a nationally representative random sample of 1,001 adults. Interviews were conducted with 700 respondents on landline telephones and 301 on cellular phones.

Digits in the phone numbers dialed were generated randomly to reach households with unlisted and listed landline and cellphone numbers.

Interviews were conducted in both English and Spanish.

As is done routinely in surveys, results were weighted, or adjusted, to ensure that responses accurately reflect the population's makeup by factors such as age, sex, education and race. In addition, the weighting took into account patterns of phone use — landline only, cell only and both types — by region.

No more than one time in 20 should chance variations in the sample cause the results to vary by more than plus or minus 4.1 percentage points from the answers that would be obtained if all adults in the U.S. were polled.

There are other sources of potential error in polls, including the wording and order of questions.

The questions and results are available at http://www.ap-gfkpoll.com

Why daily deal sites need mobile apps to succeed (Appolicious)

Posted: 25 Jun 2011 03:00 PM PDT

Jailbreaking 101: How to get more out of your iDevice (Appolicious)

Posted: 25 Jun 2011 06:00 AM PDT

Skype iPad App is Coming Soon (PC Magazine)

Posted: 25 Jun 2011 05:34 AM PDT

Skype launched its iPhone application in 2009, and now the company is gearing up to release an iPad app.

There is no release date for the app yet, but in a conversation with TUAW, Skype vice president of consumer and product design Rick Osterloh said the company expects Apple to approve the app soon.

Osterloh told TUAW that it had a lot of initial success with its iPhone app, the userbase of which "doubled in just a month's time." He expects the iPad app, which has been in testing for a few months, to "have a similar success."

The iPad version of Skype will be very similar to the iPhone app in terms of functionality, including features like chatting and audio and video calling. A video preview of the app released late this week shows off some of those features.

However, there are a few features included in the full version of Skype for the PC and Mac that won't be a part of the iPad app, such as the ability to share files. TUAW points out that the reason this is absent from the app is because of the "way the iPad deals with files."

Clearly a Skype app works well for the iPad 2 because Apple's second-gen tablet now includes dual-facing cameras, ideal for video chatting. Previously Skype just had an iPhone app that was compatible with the iPad, but Osterloh said the iPad 2's camera makes the new app "super compelling."

Apple has FaceTime, its own iOS video chatting app, but Osterloh told TUAW that Apple has "been super supportive" of Skype's iPad app.

Facebook is another high profile tech company that has a popular iPhone app (in fact, it's the most downloaded iPhone app of all time) but lacks an iPad app. But it's rumored that Facebook will release an iPad app this summer.

Hackers school next generation at DEFCON Kids (AFP)

Posted: 25 Jun 2011 08:00 PM PDT

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) – DEFCON hackers will share their skills with the next generation at a first-ever children's version of the infamous gathering of software renegades, lock pickers and social engineers.

DEFCON Kids will take place in Las Vegas on August 6-7 during the 19th annual DEFCON started by hackers such as "Dark Tangent" when they were young computer coding or hardware cracking rebels.

"Hackers are getting older and having kids," said Joe Grand, a DEFCON veteran known as 'Kingpin' who has wowed attendees with event badges made of circuit boards that could be hacked to serve as radios or other gadgets.

"It is interesting to follow the process of other people's backup units; how they are coming along."

Grand, 35, recalling teen years in which his electronics skills got him benefits such as free telephone calls and trouble like an arrest for "computer-related stuff" he didn't detail.

"I was scared straight and there was nobody there to guide me straight," said Grand, who will teach hardware hacking at DEFCON Kids, which is open to children ages eight to 16.

"It feels nice to have an opportunity to be a mentor for kids who might be outcasts at school for having skills that aren't cool; that other kids don't understand."

Grand's two-and-a-half-year-old son has his own work space in dad's lab where he excitedly looks forward to being old enough to solder circuits.

A hacker conference for children is controversial even in the DEFCON community.

Prime targets for criticism include lock picking and social engineering, the art of manipulating people into revealing sensitive information.

"Everyone is up in arms that we are going to teach kids to be evil, but that is not the case," said Chris Hadnagy, who trains companies to guard against slick-talking hackers and runs the website social-engineer.org.

"Think critically, think objectively -- that is what this industry teaches people," continued Hadnagy, a DEFCON Kids mentor.

"The Internet is a breeding ground of predators, and not falling for those things is a skill I want my kids to have when someone is trying to manipulate them into something; whether it is peer pressure or a malicious adult."

Hadnagy and others behind DEFCON Kids were adamant that in a world where children are surrounded by technology it is smart to provide guidance and a place where they can safely, and legally, test hacker skills.

Hadnagy, whose book Social Engineering: The Art of Human Hacking came out this year, tailored a "Capture the Flag" game for the event.

The game will include deciphering clues, picking locks, and reading body language and subtle facial expressions.

"Kids are great at it," said Hadnagy. "This gives them a chance to grow into what we are now, the ones who keep companies secure."

Since DEFCON debuted in 1993, many once-nefarious attendees have become computer security good guys bent on defending companies and homes against cyberattacks.

Government agents once flushed out in a game called "Spot the Fed" at the world's largest hacker gathering are now welcomed on panels such as "Meet the Fed." National police agencies recruit talent at DEFCON.

DEFCON founder Jeff Moss, whose hacker handle is Dark Tangent, is on a White House homeland defense council and heads security for the agency in charge of Internet addresses.

The US National Security Agency is to bring a museum-quality cryptography exhibit this year.

"While DEFCON has a bit of edgy counter-culture to it, there is a need to harness, direct and encourage children," said Christofer Hoff, a hacker dad and a lock picking tutor at DEFCON Kids. "It is a natural complement."

Hoff has taught his daughters to pick locks and launched HacKids camps in the United States about a year ago after peers in the security industry wondered how to hook children on science and math skills.

"I got to learn about computers and do fun stuff like trebuchets and marshmallow gun fights," said his 10-year-old daughter and hackid.org camp attendee Chloe. "It was really cool to figure out how things work."

Hoff's girls will be volunteer "goons" helping at DEFCON Kids, where his session was renamed "The physics of locks."

"When we talk about teaching kids hacking it is about the creative, sometimes interesting out-of-the-box embracing of science, math, computers...to get their creative juices flowing," Hoff said.

"If you teach a kid how to light a match, does it mean he will turn into an arsonist?" he asked rhetorically. "Probably not, but he will learn how not to burn himself."

Information was online at defconkids.org.

  1. Defconkids website

AP Enterprise: Pharmacy robberies sweeping US (AP)

Posted: 25 Jun 2011 12:02 PM PDT

NEW YORK – A wave of pharmacy robberies is sweeping the United States as desperate addicts and ruthless dealers turn to violence to feed the nation's growing hunger for narcotic painkillers.

From Redmond, Wash., to St. Augustine, Fla., criminals are holding pharmacists at gunpoint and escaping with thousands of powerfully addictive pills that can sell for as much as $80 apiece on the street.

In one of the most shocking crimes yet, a robber walked into a neighborhood drugstore Sunday on New York's Long Island and gunned down the pharmacist, a teenage store clerk and two customers before leaving with a backpack full of pills containing hydrocodone.

"It's an epidemic," said Michael Fox, a pharmacist on New York's Staten Island who has been stuck up twice in the last year. "These people are depraved. They'll kill you."

Armed robberies at pharmacies rose 81 percent between 2006 and 2010, from 380 to 686, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says. The number of pills stolen went from 706,000 to 1.3 million. Thieves are overwhelmingly taking oxycodone painkillers like OxyContin or Roxicodone, or hydrocodone-based painkillers like Vicodin and Norco. Both narcotics are highly addictive.

In New York state, the number of armed robberies rose from 2 in 2006 to 28 in 2010. In Florida, they increased nearly six-fold, from 11 to 65. California saw 61 robberies in 2010, Indiana had 45 and Tennessee had 38.

Most robbers don't hurt anyone, but authorities are worried the risk of bloodshed is increasing as assaults multiply. In September, a clerk was fatally shot in the chest and a pregnant woman wounded in the foot when a shootout broke out between a robber and an armed employee at a pharmacy in a suburb of Sacramento, Calif. In April, a gunman killed a pharmacist in Trenton, N.J., before stealing $10,000 in pills.

The robberies mirror a national rise in the abuse of narcotic painkillers, DEA spokeswoman Barbara Carreno said.

"Drug addicts are always seeking ways to get their drugs," Carreno said. "Whenever there's an increase in a problem, you'll see it manifested in ways like this."

Prescription painkillers are now the second most-abused drugs after marijuana, with 7 million Americans using them illegally in the past month, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says. The number of patients treated in emergency rooms for prescription drug overdoses more than doubled between 2004 and 2008, from 144,644 to 305,885.

Drug dealers may be turning to violence as authorities crack down on other ways of getting painkillers, Carreno said. Many states have launched introduced computer systems designed to prevent "doctor-shopping" by addicts, and federal investigations have shut down several shady Internet pharmacies.

That is believed to have spurred addicts to target small pharmacies like Haven Drugs in Medford, about 60 miles east of New York on Long Island.

Prosecutors say David Laffer, 33, walked into the drugstore on Sunday and opened fire without warning.

"He did not announce a robbery," Assistant District Attorney John Collins said. "He simply shot first after engaging the pharmacist in conversation."

Laffer shot 45-year-old pharmacist Raymond Ferguson once in the abdomen, then killed 17-year-old store clerk Jennifer Mejia before pumping two more shots into Ferguson, Collins said. Then he started pulling Norco and other hydrocodone drugs off the shelves, Collins said.

When customers Bryon Sheffield, 71, and Jamie Taccetta, 33, walked into the store, Laffer sneaked up behind them and shot them in the back of the head, Collins said.

Laffer is a former Army private who once worked as an intelligence analyst. He had recently lost his job as a warehouse worker. Both he and his wife, Melinda Brady, were high when they were arrested on Wednesday at their home about a mile and a half from the pharmacy, police said. Brady was charged with driving the getaway car; both have pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.

In posts on a wedding-related website, Brady said she had been taking different painkillers in the year before their January 2009 wedding because of several surgeries on her mouth. She added that it was taking a toll on her relationships.

It's a familiar pattern, said Andrew Kolodny, president of Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing, which advocates for more cautious use of narcotic painkillers. Many patients get addicted while taking a legitimate prescription and turn to crime after they lose their jobs and the insurance coverage that comes with them, he said.

"People with addiction who could be perfectly good people will do all sorts of horrible things to maintain their supply," Kolodny said.

Like Laffer, most pharmacy robbers are white males, said Richard Conklin, manager of RxPatrol.com, a website that tracks robberies. However, they come from all backgrounds and ages, he said.

In May, a 51-year-old man in a suit and tie approached a pharmacy counter in Boise, Idaho, and told the clerk he had something in his briefcase that he could "light the place up with" if the store didn't give him OxyContin. He left with hundreds of pills.

In Lynchburg, Va., a 27-year-old man used a 3-foot-long samurai sword to rob a pharmacy in March.

Fox said he had two customers in his drugstore in Eltingville, a middle-class neighborhood of Staten Island, when a man broke in a rear door and forced him to the floor at gunpoint in April 2010.

"He put the gun to my head, and I thought it was over for me," Fox said. The robber made off with about $4,000 of oxycodone.

In April 2010, another robber struck. Claiming he had a gun in his jacket pocket, he demanded bottles of oxycodone.

Fox handed over two bottles. The robber opened them to check the pills, then demanded more.

"I took a chance: I told him that was all I had," Fox said. The robber left without harming anyone, he said.

Robbers have also hit the nearby Annadale Family Pharmacy. A sign in the window there now says, "We do not stock oxycodone or Roxicodone."

Along with armed robberies, pharmacy associations say they are also seeing an increase in burglaries.

Keith Hodges, a pharmacist in Gloucester, Va., said his store has been broken into at least six times in recent years. One thief came through the roof by squeezing into an air conditioning shaft. Another used an electric saw to cut the knob off a steel door.

In April, a woman was caught in Billings, Mont., trying to smash in the bulletproof drive-through window of a Walgreens with a crowbar. Police said she had shards of glass on her clothing, a fresh cut on her head and her fingertips wrapped in bandages.

Rxpatrol.com, sponsored by OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma of Stamford, Conn., says it has tracked 1,258 pharmacy burglaries since 2002.

"I get nervous at night," Hodges said. "I stay late a lot, and you worry about what could happen."

Hodges said he's installed security cameras and alarms that are activated by the sound of someone breaking in. His employees wear wireless "panic buttons" that they can push to alert police.

The National Community Pharmacists' Association, which represents 23,000 independent drugstores, is distributing "height signs" to help employees record the height of robbers as they flee stores.

The Walgreens pharmacy chain is experimenting with medicine safes that delay several minutes before opening, in hopes that robbers won't have the patience to wait.

Some pharmacies are even considering installing bullet-proof windows like those found in many banks.

But Hodges, the Virginia pharmacist, worries that the security precautions are harming legitimate customers by lengthening the wait to fill prescriptions and eroding the relationship between pharmacists and patients.

If pharmacists are forced to work behind bulletproof glass, it will discourage customers from asking questions about their treatments, he said.

"The more a patient knows, the healthier they're going to be in the long run," Hodges said. "They need to have access to their pharmacist."

___

Associated Press writer Frank Eltman contributed to this report from Medford, N.Y.

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