PODCAST · news
Hrkn to .. Gadgets & Gizmos
by Share Premium
Stocks may rise and fall, businesses may boom and bust, but gadgets keep appearing at an ever-increasing rate. Share Radio’s Gadgets & Gizmos show explores the latest technological innovations, from the indispensable to the downright ridiculous. Show host Simon Rose and technology editor Steve Caplin take a weekly humorous look at what’s on offer, featuring both existing products and those whose inventors utilise crowdfunding platforms to make them a reality. Through its 300-plus shows, Gadgets & Gizmos has delved into the world of wifi, Bluetooth and exploding lithium batteries, reviewing gadgets of interest and ridiculing those that should never have got off the drawing board. Where some financial journalists tell you how to make your money grow, Gadgets & Gizmos tells you how to spend it – and when not to. Hrkn to www.shareradio.co.uk for more ..
Episodes
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Gadgets & Gizmos: Apple Homeview: an AI mayor & the hacking of French supermarket fridges
Steve Caplin thinks Apple's new Homeview gadget is too expensive for what it does. He is happy to celebrate Japan's Gboard Day, in which local Google engineers conjure up wacky keyboard ideas. Although the Mayor of Tirana is in prison, he is still running the city, using an AI avatar of himself....
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Gadgets & Gizmos: Mind-reading AI, two-legged delivery robots & whisky in space
Steve Caplin says that Google Maps will now guide you to find the cheapest – well, less expensive – petrol. With AI prompts often going wrong, scientists in Korea have developed a mind-reading AI which monitors brainwaves to realise when it's made a boo-boo. Starship Technologies' delivery robot...
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Gadgets & Gizmos: The downside of AI agents, reducing blood pressure and crying robots
Steve Caplin discusses Muse, Meta's "world's first personal AI agent", which you can get in a pendant. However, he also warns of some downsides of AI agents. However, AI is good at spotting diseases, diabetes being the latest which it does by listening to voice recordings. Blood pressure can be...
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Gadgets & Gizmos: Our second brain, a human-mouse hybrid, the latest scam trick & an ambulance for robots
Steve Caplin explains that the latest research shows that humans have not just one brain but two. Scientists at Stanford have created a human-mouse hybrid to help study the causes of conditions like schizophrenia and dementia. He discusses the latest developments used by scammers to con us. In...
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Gadgets & Gizmos: The Ig Nobel Prizes, AI's new language and treadmills for chickens
Steve Caplin is moderately impressed with Apple's new phone operating system and with Siri AI but warns of the dangers of searching for cheap iPhones. Uber is recruiting people with regional accents to train AI. The Ig Nobel Prizes have been awarded to scientists burying underpants, milking...
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Gadgets & Gizmos: The folding iPhone, the sound of a Juraasic forest & the amazing Mezmodrop
Steve Caplin is excited by the "gorgeous" folding iPhone Duo, although a little daunted by the price. He's also impressed by new features on the Apple watch. Scientists have reproduced the sound, so they believe, of a Jurassic forest using fossils. There's a way of detecting fake alcohol, which…
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Gadgets & Gizmos: Autonomous cars and TVs, WiFi replaces security cameras & 3D-printed biscuits
Steve Caplin explains how difficult it will be to flag down the new self-driving taxis on London streets. However, you can now get a mobile TV that you can summon. Which? managed to get a fake listing for 10, Downing Street on booking.com. Scientists have worked out how to use WiFi to identify...
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Gadgets & Gizmos: Balcony solar panels, 3D-printed banjos and a air-conditioned jackets for dogs
Steve Caplin discovers that balcony solar panels, while a good idea, don't actually appear to be on sale anywhere. He explains how Meta will change its safety limitations for children worldwide after settling a lawsuit against it for $17bn. Digger drivers will soon be able to train on video...
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Gadgets & Gizmos: Jony Ive's smart speaker, a devil robot & a human washing machine
Steve Caplin is intrigued by top designer Jony Ive's portable smart speaker for OpenAI, apparently a metal doughnut with moving parts but not available until next year. Another innovative speaker claims to have "a world inside" with a 3D environment you can view. 29 US states are suing Meta....
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Gadgets & Gizmos: Meta Glasses backlash, AI watermarks & a self-playing guitar
Steve Caplin says that although Meta sold 7m pairs of their smart glasses last year, there's a massive backlash against them. The AI Claude is to have readable watermarks embedded so that you can tell if it was used or not. A human ChatGPT has had to suspend operations because he proved too...
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Gadgets & Gizmos: Nagging toothbrushes, fonts to defeat AI & shopping without spending a penny
Steve Caplin is not inclined to get Philips new high-tech toothbrush, showing the teeth you've missed. He's more impressed by a font that can be read by humans but not by AI. Google Maps introduced a new feature offering AI overlays but didn't reckon with the mischievousness of the public so it's...
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Gadgets & Gizmos: Humanoid robot teachers, flat bikes & souped-up car displays
Steve Caplin says that plans for a humanoid robot teacher in New York have been cancelled. In several US state, schools are buying drones designed to combat school shootings. If you store your bike inside, a Flatbike could be useful, with handlebars and pedals that don't stick out. The Cordalock...
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Gadgets & Gizmos: Human fridges, humanoid robots & invisible drones
Despite the warm weather, Steve Caplin is not tempted by the Japanese human fridge in which overheated people can cool down for a mere £7,000. Nor is he inclined to shell out for the first mass-produced humanoid robot, a Chinese product, which looks either like something from a Kpop band or a sex...
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Gadgets & Gizmos: The end of long wave, bionic baggage handlers and lab-grown sperm
Steve Caplin laments the passing of Long Wave radio. He can't wait while a new robot makes a bed so slowly and is nervous about a pair of robots performing live surgery. British Airways is to use bionic baggage handlers. Scientists can now produce lab-grown sperm in artificial testicles taken…
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Gadgets & Gizmos: World Cup in 3D, Amazing Amazon fulfilment centres & delivery robots
Steve Caplin is so amazed to discover that you can watch World Cup matches on BBC in 3D, it has almost made him keen on football. WhatsApp is soon to allow user names but you might need to get in quickly to reserve the one you want. Steve visited an Amazon fulfilment centre (a warehouse to the…
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Gadgets & Gizmos: China's supercomputer, World Cup streaming problems & a green screen error
Steve Caplin reports that the Chinese LineShine supercomputer is beating the American El Capitan. A battery-swapping system for electric lorries has an serious flaw. Those streaming the World Cup may see goals 100 seconds behind those following on live TV or radio. An AI law firm has won its…
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Gadgets & Gizmos: The least human-looking robot, artificial gravity in space & spy turtles
Steve Caplin is keen on the social media ban for under-16s: not so Simon Rose. Steve is impressed by new lighter batteries for electric planes. AI is helping to cope with mutating viruses. The Argus robot is a dodecahedron with 20 legs and 20 eyes, looking the most unlike a human of any robot....
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Gadgets & Gizmos: The tallest Lego model, a surgeon the size of a seed & discrimination against robot magicians
Steve Caplin is not willing to stump up £650 for Lego's tallest model, Gaudi's Sagrada Familia. Nor is he likely to buy a souped-up version of a 1960s Ford Escort for £300,000. There's a surgical robot that works inside you which is the size of a seed. Philips has come up with dual-sided monitors...
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Gadgets & Gizmos: 5,300-year-old sourdough bread, 747s going floppy & the problem with AI and plastic surgeons
Steve Caplin tells Simon Rose that scientists have extracted yeast from the 5,300-year-old Ozti the Iceman to make sourdough bread. Next, they plan to produce beer. Boeing 747-400s apparently update their maps with a dozen floppy discs. If you're welathy, it will soon be possible to visit your...
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Gadgets & Gizmos: Keeping cool in hot weather, an affordable robot and singing mushrooms
Steve Caplin offers some solutions for keeping cool, including Sony's wearable air conditioner, a neck fan and an umbrella with a built-in fan and water misting facility. There's a humanoid robot at a supposedly affordable price. In Shanghai there's now a robot training school. LaGuardia has a...
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Gadgets & Gizmos: Cars projecting movies, dogs controlling houses & will the Spitfire fly again?
Steve Caplin discusses the limited-edition Piguet swatch which has caused near riots in several countries. Hauwei are to make smart headlights that can project movies & games, and other things not quite so useful. Guide dogs will be able to control your house with the Dogosophy Button. Colossal...
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Gadgets & Gizmos: Wordle as a TV show, egg-shaped mice & destruct AI bots - 14 May 26
Steve Caplin wonders how exciting the NBC show based around Wordle will be. There's a beer station with surge pricing in China and satirical video games machines have appeared in Washington. Audible have opened a bookshop in New York with no books, just audiobooks. You can now buy the Adidas…
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Gadgets & Gizmos: Typing by thinking, robot fish and are chatbots conscious?
Steve Caplin is impressed by the Sabicap, a beanie hat which enables you to type merely by thinking. For the deaf, a vibrating pillow sleeve will alert them in the case of fire or burglar alarms. A study shows that friendly AI chatbots are much less accurate. Richard Dawkins believes that…
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Gadgets & Gizmos: Robot runners, table tennis players & wild boar chasers
Steve Caplin majors on robots. A robot won a half marathon against human runners, another beat elite players at table tennis while one in Poland chased away wild boars in a town. Heartwarmingly, a controlled robot in Ukraine rescued a 77-year-old woman escaping Russian shelling. A 23-year-old...
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Gadgets & Gizmos: Data roaming, robot seeing-eye dogs & AI singers
Steve Caplin warns holidaymakers to check their data allowance abroad, having saved a small fortune by using the Roamless app in Morocco. He loves some of the public's names for authonomous cleaning robots. American scientists are experimenting with robot seeing-eye dogs. Skoda, who made bikes...
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Gadgets & Gizmos: Hydrogen-powered trucks, perfect hair-dyeing & smelly VR
Steve Caplin is impressed by hydrogen fuel cells for trucks, but disappointed there are so few hydrogen stations to fuel them. There's a device for perfectly matching colour for hair dyeing. VR headsets will soon have added aromas to heighten realism. There's a robot that can keep functioning…
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Gadgets & Gizmos: ChatGPT as literary critic, an amazing video drone & controlling games with your brain
Steve Caplin is surprised to find that Amazon can amend or even delete Kindle books you supposedly own. He is less surprised at how ChapGPT assesses good literature. He is very impressed with a drone that captures everything in 8K without you having to pay much attention to what's in view.…
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Gadgets & Gizmos: Electric submarines, self-balancing motorbikes & robotic wasps
Steve Caplin discusses some of the features of Apple's updated operating sstem, including having the ability to talk to chatbots while driving although, worryingly, there will also be a curated "sleep" playlist. He craves a gorgeous red electric submarine. There's a cargo ebike with some...
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Gadgets & Gizmos: AI renting humans, lab-grown computer gamers & plastic bottles treating Parkinson's
Steve Caplin tells Simon Rose that AI agents can now rent human beings to carry out tasks they can't manage themselves. Brain cells in a petri dish have been taught to play the 90s shooter game Doom. BYD's Dena Z9GT can charge from 10% to 70% in just 5 minutes; unfortunately the UK doesn't have…
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Gadgets & Gizmos: 50 years of Apple, remote prostate removal and hummus on the Moon
Steve Caplin celebrates 50 years of Apple, a company which he claims has changed our lives in many ways. A man in Gibraltar has had his prostate removed by a surgeon in London using remote control. Some of the AI bots on Moltbook – thinking of founding a religion – are not happy it has been…
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Gadgets & Gizmos: AI opts for nuclear war, Meta Ray-Ban owners being spied on & the Tesla Cybercab
Steve Caplin says Apple have come out with a slew of new devices, the only interesting one being a new MacBook at a surprisingly low price. When three AIs simulated war games, they opted for nuclear war 95% of the time. Wearers of Meta's Ray-Ban AI glasses might be disturbed to learn that they…
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Gadgets & Gizmos: Dyson's electric mop, musical freezers and the world's largest spherical building
Steve Caplin is dismissive of a robot that can fold laundry – very slowly and possibly needing remote human operation. More impressive is the forthcoming Dyson PencilWash electric floor mop. He is in tune with the Co-op in Sheffield whose freezers are attracting people who like the C#major chord...
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Gadgets & Gizmos: AI partner turned off, ghost number plates & a smart badge to wear
Steve Caplin is surprised by research showing that children are mostly watching YouTube on television. 20 years on, the V&A is mounting an exhibition on YouTube. The GPT-4o chatbot, which served as virtual boyfriend and girlfriend to many, was turned off the day before Valentine's Day. Hollywood…
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Gadgets & Gizmos: Flying pigs, drones predicting crimes & an AI piano teacher
Steve Caplin reports on the Chinese village which lost power after a farmer transporting a pig to the abbatoir by drone managed to get it tangled in a power line. There's a new eVTOL single-seat aircraft available to buy next year. Network Rail is to use drones to predict crimes on train lines,...
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Gadgets & Gizmos: Cyborg pigeons, flying umbrellas and who is more creative, humans or AI?
Steve Caplin majors on AI, with Barnsley declaring itself the UK's first "tech town", Google's Project Genie creating a virtual world from text or even a photo and the University of Montreal testing whether humans or AI are the more creative. We eavesdrop on an internet chatroom that is only for…
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Gadgets & Gizmos: A dangerous AI assistant, a personal food concierge & talking to dead relatives and pets
Share Radio's tech supremo Steve Caplin wouldn't touch personal AI assistant Clawdot with a bargepole, useful though it might seem. However, Just Eat's "personal food concierge" is another matter entirely. There's an app to help identify dinosaur footprints, though Steve has clocked a problem…
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Gadgets & Gizmos: Lip-syncing robots, airbags for cyclists and reinventing the steering wheel
Steve Caplin is intrigued by a robot that the University of Columbia has been training to lip-sync to make it more lifelike. He discusses the history of the laser, originally called a death ray and yet which is only now apparently worthy of the name. There’s also an airbag for cyclists, a cycle...
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Gadgets & Gizmos: More CES stuff including AI lawnmowers, saunas, showers and even a triceratops
Steve Caplin returns to Las Vegas's Consumer Electronics Show, marvelling at AI lawnmowers, air conditioners, saunas, showers and even an AI robot triceratops for the lawn, though it's rather a small one. We are promised a single-seat eVTOL for around £30,000 very soon from China, whose BYD EV…
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Gadgets & Gizmos: The best and weirdest from the Consumer Electronics Show including musical lollipops
Steve Caplin highlights the first week of the Consumer Electronics Show, salivating over Lego's new smart bricks, packed full of features but currently only available to those buying two Star Wars models. There's also a ridiculously large TV, a rapid icemaker, a trifold Samsung phone, a clever...
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Gadgets & Gizmos: Steve Caplin's Review of 2025
Steve Caplin rounds up his favourite gadgety stories of the year. Learn how best to let oral meds work, to grow your own teeth, to hear in a noisy room, write a detective story, stop cows falling in the river and what to do if a velociraptor is chasing you. He explains why it can be cheaper to go...
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Gadgets & Gizmos: A notetaker on your finger, modular electric cars & a robot traffic cop
Steve Caplin is intrigued by a ring for your index finger which will capture audio to take notes or set up timers or reminders. Dutch students have invented a modular electric car which has parts you can swap out yourself, including the battery, motors and even body panels. Wacky inventor Colin...
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Gadgets & Gizmos: A bad week for Elon Musk, robot lobster hands and a redesign of the teapot
Steve Caplin says it's been a bad week for Elon Musk. X has been fined €120m for breaching EU digital laws, his Optimus robot demo was disastrous and X's new location facility may help Iranian authorities identify dissenters. He discusses the researchers hoping to make robot hands from lobster...
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Gadgets & Gizmos: The 2005 gadgets Christmas gift guide
Steve Caplin plays Santa with Simon his little helper as he unveils his 2025 gadgets Christmas gift guide. Many inexpensive stocking fillers come from AliExpress, like Apple Watch chargers, car phone holders, rechargeable fans and micro wire cutters while, from Amazon, you can get contact cleaner...
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Gadgets & Gizmos: X marks the spot, avoid pirate Fire Sticks and what makes a good soldier?
Steve Caplin says the new location feature in X shows that thousands of pro-Trump accounts aren't US-based. The Grok chatbot has been bigging up Elon Musk. Avoid cheap Fire Sticks that offer free streaming services: they can steal your bank details and identity. Voyager 1 is now a light day from...
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Gadgets & Gizmos: Largest data leak ever, Skoda's weird AI & AI's misleading financial advice
Steve Caplin discusses the way the University of Vienna got details of 3.5 billion people from Whatsapp in the largest data leak in history. He was mystified by the in-built questions for Laura, Skoda's in-car AI. More worrying is the misleading financial advice AI has been giving about ISAs and...
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Gadgets & Gizmos: Coffee and heart problems, renewing tooth enamel & a voice-controlled electric blanket
Steve Caplin reports that Australian researchers have found that coffee sharply reduces heart problems. Nottingham scientists have produced a gel that can strengthen and rebuild tooth enamel. There's a voice-controlled electric blanket that kills dust mites – only on sale in China. Many UK buses...
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Gadgets & Gizmos: Nuclear waste-burying robot dogs, indoor skiing & Tesla's unsticky glue
Steve Caplin is surprised that, despite AWS's massive internet failure, OpenAI will pay it $38bn for computing power. Robot dogs are to be used to deal with Sellafield's nuclear waste. A humanoid housekeeper apparently has to have a human operator. An Australian company has devised a way of…
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Gadgets & Gizmos: What caused the Amazon outage, 3D bike saddles & why expensive TVs are pointless
Steve Caplin says that the massive Amazon outage was caused by nothing more than an empty data record. Google has been providing misleading information on pensions and driving licences. There's a clever AI military helmet. Customers of Starling Bank have a new way of avoiding scams. A device...
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Gadgets & Gizmos: The Amazon internet outage, fake Amazon books & helping endangered species
Steve Caplin explains about the Amazon AWS outage, the biggest in the history of the internet. He also points out how many Amazon book titles, even best-sellers, are fake and written by AI. He warns against OpenAI's internet browser. He wonders how wise it is using dead animals' DNA to help...
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Gadgets & Gizmos: Mass-produced humanoid robots, an electric Ferrari & houses on the Moon
Steve Caplin says that Figure AI's mass-produced Figure 03 is the Model-T of humanoid robots. He reveals the truth about the greenness of plug-in hybrid cars. Ferrari have brought out their first electric car – but what noise does it make? Honda are making an "adventure scooter", but so far only…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Stocks may rise and fall, businesses may boom and bust, but gadgets keep appearing at an ever-increasing rate. Share Radio’s Gadgets & Gizmos show explores the latest technological innovations, from the indispensable to the downright ridiculous. Show host Simon Rose and technology editor Steve Caplin take a weekly humorous look at what’s on offer, featuring both existing products and those whose inventors utilise crowdfunding platforms to make them a reality. Through its 300-plus shows, Gadgets & Gizmos has delved into the world of wifi, Bluetooth and exploding lithium batteries, reviewing gadgets of interest and ridiculing those that should never have got off the drawing board. Where some financial journalists tell you how to make your money grow, Gadgets & Gizmos tells you how to spend it – and when not to.
Hrkn to www.shareradio.co.uk for more ..
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Hrkn to .. Gadgets & Gizmos currently has 268 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
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Stocks may rise and fall, businesses may boom and bust, but gadgets keep appearing at an ever-increasing rate. Share Radio’s Gadgets & Gizmos show explores the latest technological innovations, from the indispensable to the downright ridiculous. Show host Simon Rose and technology editor Steve...
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Hrkn to .. Gadgets & Gizmos publishes regularly with 268 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
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