Class 17: WED OCT 30

Riddle: What’s Going on Here?

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Wield Your Statistics

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The “Causal” Unit

Why the Challenger Exploded

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Portfolio Task: Causal Argument

Geek Bike Helmet

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Types of Causal Argument

Includes a brief Homework Assignment for MON NOV 04

54 Responses to Class 17: WED OCT 30

  1. Softball1321's avatar Softball1321 says:

    Class Notes – 10/30/24

    • Statistics without direction and velocity are useless.
    • Cause/Effect (informal).
    • Several causes can be introduced in a writing, some distant, some immediate, and some precipitating, that are essential to the argument.
    • One question can have many answers and reasonings to support it.
    • There can be many causes to a single effect.

  2. imaginary.persona's avatar imaginary.persona says:

    10/30/24

    What Happened:

    • Riddle
    • Wield Your Statistics
    • The “Causal” Unit
      • Why the Challenger Exploded
        • Distant Causes, Immediate Causes, and Precipitating Causes
    • Portfolio Task: Causal Argument
      • Types of causal arguments

    What I Got:

    • We don’t have to have a unique strategy just an effective one
    • Wording matters
      • Mere 50% compared to A Full 50% 
    • Find The Useless Sentence
      • “Shockingly, the infertility rate for African-American women between 18 and 45 is higher than for women in many of the wealthiest African countries.”

    What I still have Questions about:

  3. GOAT81's avatar GOAT81 says:

    class notes:10/30

    • Statistics without direction and velocity are useless
    • 67% of households do not have enough money for unexpected expense
    • The glass of water represents the concept of Half-full or half-empty
    • O-rings failure

  4. PRblog24's avatar PRblog24 says:

    30 October 2024: Class Notes

    • Statistics are tools.
    • Without any information backing up your statistic, the reader will not know the importance of the number they are being given.
    • Information or context is needed to help readers understand whether this is good or bad information they are receiving.
    • Minor In-Class Task: I believe that sentence number four is the most useless because of the use of the term “to some degree” which gives us a broader aspect of infertility that is not discussed within the sentence. The statistic 10% in this sentence also does not have any information backing it up to inform us whether this is a good or bad number.
    • The Challenger (and the use of cause and effect):
      • Several causes can be named, some distant, some immediate, some precipitating.
    • It is important for you to know which cause (including all of the reasons and statics why) you want your reader to believe in and support.
    • Keep in mind for all of the possible causes in order to have strong information for the rebuttal.

  5. ChefRat's avatar ChefRat says:

    Class Note 10.30.24

    • If your statistics is a strong indicator of the claim you’re trying strengthen, make sure its properly used. Don’t leave it up to the reader to come their own conclusion with your numbers, regardless of how obvious it could be.
    • Any statistic that can be seen in a bad or good spotlight must be worded in a way that you need it, always! 10% example given in class.
    • Causal argument mentioned – we go over example causal questions that individually have many possible answers. Your job as a writer is to determine which of these causes best enhance your claims/argument, so your reader specifically follows it as well.

  6. yardie's avatar yardie says:

    Class Notes 10/30/2024.,           

    Statistics are useless until put into context

    – Wield- your Statistics

    The useless sentence in the 5 provided sentences, would be number 2, since it includes the unnecessary information about the wealthiest African countries. The Statistic is focused on Women in America, so comparing the data to African Countries doesn’t support the claims.

    – Causal

    You can have one question, but several answers (causes) to the question.

    Question – “Why did the Challenger Fail?”

    No single cause can be named, only several causes can be named like O-rings failure, NASA ignoring warnings, or the design requiring warmer weather to launch.

    Causal Argument

    • Figure out ONE cause to your argument
    • Save the ones that aren’t important for your rebuttal argument (to then reject them)
    • davidbdale's avatar davidbdale says:

      Not Quite. There may be several causes (underlying, remote, fundamental, local, immediate, precipitative) for the phenomenon you argue. But not all will be essential to your argument, and some may CONTRADICT your argument. Save the nonessential and contradictory claims for your Rebuttal argument.

      3/3

  7. Class notes- figure8clementine

    10/30/24

    • 67% of Americans do NOT have the funds to cover unexpected expenses.
    • the challenger takeoff failed because of the width of a horses ass.
    • we have nothing to do in December because we’re really just piecing together our portfolio.

  8. taco491's avatar taco491 says:

    Class Notes: 10/30/24

    Riddle: The son had a surgery, which left a scar line, so the dad got a tattoo to match his son.

    -Adding statistics with no reason or knowledge behind it is useless. When using a statistic in our writing, make sure to give a direction on where we are going with it and use comparable things with it to put it into context. Also, by including why this statistic is important in our writing should help persuade the audience.

    -Adding a statistic deliberately when we know we are hidden things is horrible. Never do this, we will know when we are doing this because we will feel that guilt.

    -It is causal, not casual. Causal is the cause, while casual is informal. Make sure we write the right one.

    -Why did the challenger explode? Common reason: There was a failure of O-rings to contain the pressure of combustion within the rocket. There is actually multiple different causes. There is distant causes, intermediate causes, remote causes, and some precipitating. There is not just one correct answer.

    -In our causal arguments, we should recognized there is not just one solution/reason to a problem, but instead many.

    -Our writing is to show how things came to be. Our job is to figure out which one of the multiple causes we want to promote in our writing in order to persuade the audience. Naming all the positive reasons in the causal arguments will silence the thoughts of the readers. In our rebuttal we can use the nonessential causes.

    Causal argument is due Sunday November 10th

    -If we want some advice on where we should go with our causal argument, we can leave a reply.

  9. phoenixxxx23's avatar phoenixxxx23 says:

    Class Notes- phoenixxxx23

    -Your statistics do not tell the whole story

    -Statistics shold be straightforward and confident

    Statistics are useless until you put them in context

    -Not single cause can be isolated

    -The underline cause always will be GRAVITY

    -We want the most BASIC of causes

    -The cause is the width of horse’s ass

    -Your job is to name all the causes that are inportant for you, not just a single one

    -Smart reader would say “Yes, but…” for your reasoning, you have to prevent them from these doubts

    -We blame precipitating cause a lot while it is just an underline

  10. GamersPet's avatar GamersPet says:

    The riddle or more so the image is a child who had surgery, and the father of that son copied the same look as the child. It’s like the family bond moment.

    When handling statistics is by knowing how to use it or else it would be pointless, and useless. When it is either good or bad numbers is by putting in context before or after the statistics number which depends on the word choice. It depends on how writers conceived the statistics.

    We did the exercise of which one of the five sentences, and I’ve chosen the wrong answer until it was changed in sentence number two because I was bias when the sentence didn’t display a certain number. The use of verbs can help determine, and tells us if the numbers are good or bad.

    Discussing what a causal argument is by diving into the article of “Why Challenger Exploded”. A causal argument is the cause and the effect as to the what, and why it happen. The cause of the rocket to explode is the failure of O-Rings that contains the pressure of combustion within the rocket. No single cause can be isolated, but several causes can be named, distant, immediate, and precipitating. Precipitating cause is the underline cause like the truly main cause of what had happen. It’s mostly the basic of causes, and how it came to be. By naming all the reasons of how it happen in the argument, and saving the less important reasons for the rebuttal argument.

  11. Bagel&Coffee's avatar Bagel&Coffee says:

    NOOOTES!

    What is going on here? What is this picture of two people with snakes on their head? That is easy… if you keep abreast of the news:

    Dad gets tattoo to match his son’s surgery scar – ABC7 Los Angeles

    It’s actually a scar and a tattoo. The dad wants his kid to feel normal.

    Moral of the story: I don’t know. I don’t think there is one. It is a nice gesture; it might get a few tears in the audience. It is a good way to make people feel their feelings and pull in that ad revenue! Not the first story of its kind, there was another viral one a while back:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zO9fZaFfNAs

    Still gets me all choked up. :’)

    Wield your statistics. We looked at statics. But that is not important, the important thing is how you positively or negatively present them. 10 percent infection rate is just 10 percent. It in a void by itself is meaningless. You could however compare it to an infection rate in Brazil that is lower or an infection rate in China that is higher to make your 10% look better or worse.

    I hear people do this every day whether subconsciously or not: “Did you see last week’s episode of the Kardashians?! Like Oh my god! At least I am not as bad a parent as Kris Jenner!”

    My takeaway: “Ok so she is a bad parent but compares herself to a reality TV personality who gets paid millions to be on a rage inducing drama farming show. Yea, she looks like a better mom already…”

    Don’t be white toast boring, be judgmental about your statistics.

    The Cause unit.

    “My car ended up in the bay because gravity.” Well then, by that logic… “I didn’t kill him…” “I shot him, the bullets and the fall killed him” | Collateral | CLIP – YouTube

    Once again, the concepts here sound half lawyer.

    In relation to our thesis, we are to find all our causals. There may be multiple arguments to be made for what caused something. Also, of note is to use the weaker causal arguments for the rebuttal, for example: now some critics may have observed that bla bla bla. We are to find other causals and mercilessly reject them. Take care of those unstated for your rebuttal argument.

    • davidbdale's avatar davidbdale says:

      Doesn’t fly if you want to be truly persuasive. Refute the strongest counterargument you can find.

      Also, of note is to use the weaker causal arguments for the rebuttal

      4/3

  12. Starfire04.blog's avatar Starfire04.blog says:

    class notes 10/30/24

    • when using statistics in your paper, know how to use them. Don’t give statistics with no information to explain, it would just be useless.
    • give the statistics context and then they will be useful
    • Causal argument is what caused something that led to the effect.
    • Name every reason of what happened and why to cause what was/ is happening
    • give the most important reasons and leave the less important reasons for later when we write our rebuttal
  13. student1512's avatar student1512 says:

    NOTES 

    -COLLAB  w/Loverofcatsandmatcha  ❤

    10/29/24

    RIDDLE WHAT’S GOING ON

    • Dad got tattoo in solidarity with son
    • What causes what, causes what, and so on…..
    • What the causal, what are the things leading up, why done with the consequences in anticipation
    • Everything impacts everything, consider the concept of chain reactions.
      • Son has brain tumor; gets surgery; has scar; father gets tattoo in solidarity
        • What caused the TUMOR?
        • Think deeper.

    WIELD YOUR STATISTICS

    • Have direction with your statistics, do not just throw them in with no reason. 
    • Not all stats apply everywhere all at once, be able to guide readers to the appropriate understanding of what we’re using.
    • “Spin” it’s not nothing, it’s something, tell the reader what it is.
    • A full 50%!
    • Influence positive and negative 
    • The way that you word things can impact how your writing is perceived by your audience
    • You cannot deliver empty statistics, give context
      • “Approx. 10%”: is this good or bad? As the reader, we have no idea. TELL US. Provide thoughtful context and commentary.
      • Not knowing can cause your reader to spend their entire attention budget on trying to understand, so much so that they miss the main point of your writing, and they will eventually bail on you.

    FIND THE USELESS SENTENCE

    • Sentence number 4 is a useless sentence. It provides no context to the reader about whether or not the statistic is positive or negative, and instead just lists the statistic. It does nothing except explicitly tell the reader what the statistic is; and even then, it lacks all of the necessary information to make a thoughtful argument. 

    The “Causal” Unit

    • Publish early, because things are going to get chaotic quickly, and you will likely need time to piece everything together in a thoughtful and valuable way
    • Everything must be turned in by 12/2
    • Let’s talk about the Challenger:
      • Failed BECAUSE of the O Ring failure, too cold, froze over
      • There never ONE cause, background history, psychological reasons, always more than one reason
      • Job of causal is to tease out all causes
        • You can always pull multiple causes for any event. Some named, some distant, some immediate, some precipitating
          • Remote, precipitating, immediate, contributing (see types of causation arguments tab for examples and more information)
            • Similar to the definition argument, these categories will assist in developing the causal argument. Figure out the root of what goes where, and why  
        • Horse’s asses: seems irrelevant; but is it?
          • Think deeper, because everything impacts everything
      • Save irrelevant arguments for rebuttal

    Causal Argument

    • Due midnight SUN NOV 10.
    • The kind of casual causal claims we make often, don’t always get to the actual cause.
    • If the cause is obvious, think deeper, there’s more reasons that root from something.
  14. iloveme5's avatar iloveme5 says:

    Class notes 10/30

    • The riddle is a father and son. I’ve seen this before on social media and the son had cancer and maybe had surgery that left a scar and the father got the same thing tattooed so that his son wouldn’t feel so different.
    • Professor mentioned in class “Everything is a part of a casual chain” This gets me to thinking about everything I’ve ever done in my life and the cause behind it.
    • I did not know that 1 in 5 college students had children.
    • Statistics are useless without proper context/ explanation.
    • Making a note to myself to get everything together/ fix feedback so that I won’t be scramming in December before finals.
    • First time I have ever heard of the space challenger explosion.
    • There is never one cause, there is always underlying causes, background history etc.
    • For the rebuttal argument we should add responses for every cause/ question.
    • If we think we’ve identified the only reason, the professor will help us find things we might have missed.
    • Causal = cause
    • Casual = informal
    • Causal argument is due Sunday November 10th.

  15. pinkduck's avatar pinkduck says:

    Class Notes 10/30

    • The father got a tattoo on his head in honor of his son who had a scar due to surgery.
    • Cause for the son’s scar – Brain tumor
    • Cause for the father’s tattoo – Wanting to do something to bond and comfort his son.
    • Dad wouldn’t have felt the need to get that tattoo if his son didn’t have one himself.
    • Every phenomena has its previous cause.
    • Statistics without direction and velocity are useless.
    • Statistics are useless without the reason and context behind the use of it.
    • We want to be able to guide our readers into the meaning behind the numbers we’ve used.
    • Glass half full/glass half empty – The readers would already know this information.
    • What they do not know is “a full 50%, as high as 50%, has improved to 50%, at 50% a perfect balance, etc.”
    • Empty numbers give you no good at all.
    • Why did the space shuttle explode? – They had kept mentioning that it was much too cold, o-rings had failed by getting too cold leading to it exploding.
    • Why did the space shuttle explode? Psychological reasoning – There was pressure behind getting the shuttle to go to space, their funding was at risk. It could’ve been the person who pressed the button’s fault if they had known better.
    • There is always more than one reason.
    • Your job in a casual argument is to tease out all of the reasons.
    • No single cause can be isolated.
    • Casual argument is due in November on the tenth.
    • We make casual claims all the time but they don’t get to the actual cause.

    • davidbdale's avatar davidbdale says:

      Beautiful Notes, but . . .

      • Your job in a casual argument is to tease out all of the reasons.
      • No single cause can be isolated.
      • Casual argument is due in November on the tenth.
      • We make casual claims all the time but they don’t get to the actual cause.

      Causal

      4/3

  16. student12121's avatar student12121 says:

    Class Notes 10/30/24

    Without knowing why the original domino fell you cannot truly understand why the last one fell. Make sure you explain all parts of the chain so that your argument makes sense and is in context.

    Statistics without an explanation are useless. They make no sense and are not in context. This means that they can be used completely incorrectly and or confusingly. These types of statistics are ineffective. Use words to indicate movement or the emotion that the statistic should invoke. Tell your reader if it is a good stat or a terrible one.

    There is never one cause. There is always more than one reason. In your argument you must describe all of them. Either by acknowledging them and agreeing or by rebutting the causes you must show that you know about it.

    Always make sure to not only explore the immediate cause but also the ultimate cause and everything in between. Do not only look at the symptoms, treat every part of the problem. There are many different types of causes and one must explore all of them relevant to your argument.

  17. pineapple488's avatar pineapple488 says:

    Class notes:

    • Sometimes a causal explanation is the things that lead up to something happening.
    • Everything is an individual chain of events.
    • Statistics are useless unless you tell your readers what they mean.
    • The reader is your opposition, they aren’t going to want to agree with you unless you make them.
    • There are different ways to phrase the same information to make it sound positive or negative.
    • Giving the reader something to compare your statistic to gives them some idea of how to feel about it.
    • There’s never one cause, there’s underlying causes, psychological reasons, physical reasons, etc. In an argument, you need to pull out all of them and save the ones that are least important for your rebuttal argument.
    • Always look for more reasons that you may have missed.
    • The catastrophe of the Challenger can be tied all the way back to the way chariots were built during the Roman empire.
    • In the case of a car rolling down a hill, there could be many reasons it happened, but the underlying cause is always going to be gravity.
  18. Who'sOnFirst?'s avatar Who'sOnFirst? says:

    10/30

    • Wield your statistics. It might not work for anyone else to be used in the way you’ll use it but if you can spin it in a way that convinces your audience that your number is either good or bad.
    • I wasn’t able to reply to the statistics page but here is what I wrote:
      • I think number 4 is the most useless because it provides no context aside from “more for African American women” so we don’t know whether it’s good or bad.
      • While 2 isn’t the best it still says “it is higher than” providing a little context.
    • There is rarely one cause to any effect. You have to acknowledge all of the other causes in your rebuttal but you should point your audience to one.
    • Look at the underlying causes.
  19. ChickenNugget's avatar ChickenNugget says:

    Class Notes – 10/30

    • Everything is part of a causal change, no matter what you think of the individual things we are looking at.
    • Wielding your Statistics: Your numbers are useless unless you tell your reader what you mean.
    • Michelle Obama new announcer example: We don’t know what these numbers mean because they have no context that helps us compare these numbers to something or to really know what we need to know.
    • Challenger Explosion: Save any “yeah but…” for your rebuttal. Causal argument is never as straight forward as a single cause and effect.
  20. Robofrog's avatar Robofrog says:

    Class notes 10/30:

    Riddle- The father’s is a tattoo, the child’s is a surgical scar; causal (cause), casual (informal); tattoo is caused to create bonding between them; every phenomenon is part of a causal chain of events

    Wield Your Statistics- numbers are useless without meaning applied to them, everyone has a comfort zone, numbers require context, tell the reader what they are seeing;

    Why the Challenger Exploded- shuttles could be piloted to safely land, the teacher was a gimmick to get more funding NASA, there is never just one cause for something to happen,

    Portfolio Task: Causal Argument-focus on one for the primary cause, save the others for the rebuttal, correlation is not causal

    Assignments:

    Causal Argument Assignment for SUN NOV 03

    Portfolio Assignment Visual Rhetoric rewrite NOV 14

    Portfolio all done by dec 2

  21. unicorn45678's avatar unicorn45678 says:

    Notes 10/30 

    Riddle: What’s going on here? 

    • It looks like the child had to get brain surgery, and his dad wants to make him feel better by having the same scar as him or maybe both of them had to get brain surgery.

    Wield Your Statistics 

    • Statistics without direction and velocity are useless…
    • Some essentials that good writers use:  face forward, adopt a comfortable stance, stare down the opposition, deliver with confidence, and know how to use spin.
    • Readers need to be told how your number compares to the range of possible numbers.
    • If the statics is by itself it doesn’t really mean anything, you have to add context in order for your audience to understand 

    Find the useless Sentence 

    • I would say sentence number one because it only provides the number 10%, it doesn’t really provide enough information on how the number compare to other ranges of numbers 

    Causal Argument

    • Second short argument due Nov 10 Sunday at midnight  
    • Your Causal Argument will identify one or more cause-and-effect relationships essential to proving your thesis.
  22. MAD ClTY's avatar MAD ClTY says:

    Riddle Water got a matching scar mark by tattoo with his child.

    Statistic are useless without any direction you need context for your statistic. You need to add key words to support your statistic

    There are many “Why?” to many different question rather you should. A causal argument is are statements case that you provide a question you the an argument weaker forms of these argument are can be used a counter argument.

  23. Bruinbird's avatar Bruinbird says:
    • Notes for October 30 (dang it), 9:30 am class
      • Starting the causal unit
      • Everything has a causal chain, no matter what the individual things you’re looking at
      • Writing skill!!!
        • Wielding your Statistics
          • Numbers are useless unless you tell your readers what they mean.
            • Example
              • ⅕ college students has a child.
          • Everyone has a style to be comfortable with
            • HOW HAVE I NEVER HEARD OF KEVIN YOUKILIS??? HE WIELDS HIS BAT SO COOL
          • Half a glass of water
            • Tell your readers what it is
              • It’s a full 50%, as high as 50%, improved to 50%
              • A mere 50%, as low as 50%, declined to 50%
              • The phrasing of the stats, the wielding of it, can change the perspective on what they are looking at.
      • Get things published early, so you can start working on your rewrites asap
      • Diffuse the argument to your readers, save the “yeah but” for the rebuttal argument.
        • Never just a single cause for a single effect
      • Think about it when writing paper
        • Other potential reasons for something, keep mind open to not miss something. Alternate explanations are still possibilities
      • Causal claims happen all the time
        • Don’t always get to the root of the thing that it’s trying to explain
        • Immediate cause
          • A cause that’s right there at the time of the event, immediately nearby
        • Remove cause
          • A cause that has had lingering effects that potentially effected the current event
        • Precipitating cause
          • Sudden change that lets an underlying cause to do what it will with an event
        • COntributing cause
          • A cause for an effect, but one of MANY causes, and not the only one.
  24. SkibidySigma's avatar SkibidySigma says:

    Class Notes 10/30

    • We started the causal unit today, focusing on tracing events back through multiple causes. In a causal argument, explaining why something happened often involves looking at a chain of events, like how a genetic mutation could lead to a tumor, surgery, and then a father’s decision to get a matching tattoo to support his son.
    • Statistics are only useful if they have context. Rather than just listing a number, we should show readers its significance. For example, “a full 50%” sounds encouraging, while “only 50%” implies disappointment.
    • The Challenger disaster highlighted the complexity of causal analysis. Causes ranged from technical issues, like O-ring failure in cold weather, to NASA’s pressure to launch a civilian teacher. It wasn’t due to one single cause, but to multiple factors, both technical and human.
    • For the causal argument assignment, focus on identifying and explaining the most relevant causes that support your thesis. Keep nonessential or contradictory causes for the rebuttal argument.
    • Upcoming deadlines: Causal Argument: November 10 
    • Rebuttal Argument: November 25 
    • Final Portfolio:  December 2
  25. Elongated lobster's avatar Elongated lobster says:

    Notes-

    You can take different approaches to sentences but make sure that they are useful and add meaning. In the case in statement 2, there is a lack of comparison between the statistics on African-American women and the women in the wealthiest African countries as the only figure given is the 10% infertility rate of African-American women. By leaving out the infertility rate of these African women, there is no basis to compare it to. If the infertility rate of these African women was only 9.8%, yes that is better than the rates among African-American women, but it is so marginal that you cannot rule out that the difference may be from a source of error. When asking one question, there can be multiple answers as well as multiple viewpoints to take the question from. Assigning a causation to any one event can be subjective, so you must be able to discern what your target is and how you can assign causation while still taking the other potential views into account.

  26. Andarnaurram's avatar Andarnaurram says:

    Class Notes 10/30

    Riddle: The son has a scar form his brain surgery so his father gets a tattoo of the scar. The cause of the father getting the tattoo is so his son doesn’t feel ostracized. Everything has a cause.

    -Weird Your Statistics: Working in a comfort zone while handling statistics is common and spinning 

    -Why the Challenger Exploded: There is always more then one reason something happens to it is our job in a causal argument to defuse all of them. Many causes can be named for the explosion 

    I think number 4 should be terminated because the sentence because we do not have any indication that the statistics are good or bad and the statement itself is almost generic.

  27. lil.sapph's avatar lil.sapph says:

    10/30

    • The little child had what appears to be brain surgery, and was left with a bad scar, and the father tattooed a scar like his on his own head.
      • This was really sweet, 
    • The bat thing looked cool it was like his thing that always works for him like some pople where certain things or eat certain things before a game. 
    • Glass half full
      • Its important to use positive words to make the number look good “as much as…”
    • Glass half empty
      • Using negative words to make the number look low, “as low as…” “a mere..”  
    • Challenger
      • I understood what the point of the lecture was, just in the sense of trying to find that one thing that led to the cause to her death, it was just kind of hard to see the connection between the two because her death wasn’t exactly directly impacted by just the size of the tunnel. 
      • If anything its more just like she died because she was on the challenger that was in flight and exploded, and she wouldn’t have been in flight if mission control hadn’t okayed liftoff, they sent her up there and it was because she was up there that she died, if they hadn’t sent her up, because they knew the conditions, they wouldn’t have died. 
    • While for causal arguments, like the challenger, not a single cause can be identified, but in my argument essay I should have all of those distinctly and perfectly described. 
    • Try to get essay turned in ASAP as to not get behind. 

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