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Star Wars Prequels Media Movies Hardware

Alienware's Star Wars PCs 360

Posted by CmdrTaco from the hell-of-a-world-of-warcraft-box dept.
CptnKirk writes "Alienware is now offering their high-end PCs pre-pimped with Star Wars themes. These systems have the usual assortment of configuration options. They're then additionally modded with your choice of Light Side or Dark Side themes. External decals, light kit and desktop theme. They even throw in a membership to the official Star Wars online fan club. I admit, booting the system to "what is your bidding my master", sounds appealing."
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Alienware's Star Wars PCs More

Alienware's Star Wars PCs

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  • Yeah, (Score:5, Insightful)

    by cakestick ( 323966 ) on Tuesday May 03, 2005 @09:19AM (#12419164) Homepage
    thanks for the advertisement, Slashy. The extra large ones at the top of the page just weren't getting me off.

    • Re:Yeah, (Score:3, Informative)

      by rastachops ( 543268 )
      The url even includes a "source=1446" indicating that it wasn't just a link to the page but a referral link to make the guy who posted the article some cash.

      Enough already with the constant advert-articles! The Apple section is probably the worst offender.

      • Re:Yeah, (Score:5, Informative)

        by nitehorse ( 58425 ) <clee@c133.org> on Tuesday May 03, 2005 @10:58AM (#12420227)
        Actually, the 'source=1446' parameter is the same as I got in my email (I'm on the Alienware mailing list). I believe that it's so that Alienware can track who finds things on their site vs. who clicks on the email links, but that's just my own conjecture.

        In any case, it's *not* a referral link so that the submitter can make more money.

  • This "news article" was sponsored by... (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 03, 2005 @09:19AM (#12419165)
    AlienWare

    • Re:This "news article" was sponsored by... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by bigman2003 ( 671309 ) on Tuesday May 03, 2005 @09:23AM (#12419227) Homepage
      Pre-pimped rigs are a stupid person's way to 'customize' their computer.

      It's like legos...legos are a toy of creativity. When they start including pre-built shapes to look like spaceships, forts, or castles, it is all over. Who would want pre-built legos?

      Well this is the same sort of thing.
      • It's like legos...legos are a toy of creativity. When they start including pre-built shapes to look like spaceships, forts, or castles, it is all over. Who would want pre-built legos?


        Part of the skill of designing and building models is to use those pieces in new and innovative ways.

        A radar dish from a spaceship can be an umbrella for a picnic table, it could be part of a continuously variable transmission in a Mindstorms robot.

      • I agree, I've been building with legos for 20 something years. When they first started, you needed hundreds of pieces to make a rather detailed object. Now they come with these 12 inch models of cars/planes/creatures that are like 30 pieces. Its really depressing. I remember their early boat models, now that was customizing!

      • Re:This "news article" was sponsored by... (Score:5, Insightful)

        by BraceletWinner ( 845950 ) on Tuesday May 03, 2005 @10:12AM (#12419705) Homepage
        That's like saying "Paying a landscaping company to plant trees and flowers and maintain your lawn is the stupid person's way to 'customize' their yard" or a thousand different time-consuming activities.

        They're not necessarily stupid, they're just lazy or have better things to do with the time that it would take. I would never take the time to do lots of things (yard work, fix my refrigerator, drive several hours when a flight will get me there in two hours, etc..). Paying people saves me time and effort - it has nothing to do with stupidity.

        • While I agree with your assessment that a lot of people simply don't have the knowledge or inclination to build their own PCs, paying Alienware to do it is like wanting a sports car and paying $40,000 for a riced-up Lancer when a stock Ion Red Line or 350z would blow it off the road for ~$20,000 less.

          Alienware's premiums are absurd, their rigs too ugly for words, and their construction quality and support questionable at best. They're Dell "quality" with an even larger markup. Their adherence to flagrantly
      • Pre-pimped rigs are a stupid person's way to 'customize' their computer.
        Nonsense. It's all marketing, and there is nothing wrong with pimpin' yo' rig, any more than pimpin' yo' ride.
        Furthermore, for that person for whom coming up with a gift idea is an absolute !@#$, it's a great source of gift ideas. Now, how does my father in law feel about the Farce? Is it with him?
    • Sponsored by AlienWare? They wanted to make sure the online site of their new gear was brought down by the /. effect? Maybe their competition...

    • Re:This "news article" was sponsored by... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by XorNand ( 517466 ) on Tuesday May 03, 2005 @09:31AM (#12419307)
      This is getting a bit ridiculous. I've been reading slashdot for at least five years now. WTF is up with all these bought-and-paid-for media placements that have shown up recently? My respect for Slashdot is rapidly dwindeling and I want an offical answer.

      This is the number one reason why I refuse to subscribe.

      • Re:This "news article" was sponsored by... (Score:5, Insightful)

        by dAzED1 ( 33635 ) on Tuesday May 03, 2005 @09:44AM (#12419429) Journal
        and you think posting here will get you an official answer?

        Given the situation, I'm amazed slashdot has held up this long. However - when the student is ready, the master will appear... There are a lot of places out now that are good alternatives to the retro-slashdot years, back when they were "cool." The masses keep slashdot popular, but it's the popularity that makes it lose the real community feel. There's no cohesion here anymore.

        On the other hand, if you go back 5 (or more, for some of us...) years, you'll find that many of the stories were just like this one - case mods, etc. It wasn't until the slashdot crowd all decided that they were biologists, physicists, chemists, economists, and lawyers that the community started going insane. Personally, I welcome the return to silly stories about things nerds would be interested in...like nerdy case mods.
    • So, you join a their Affiliate program then post a link with your referal number to slashdot.

      At 2.5% per sale you'd be crazy not to invent a news story!
    • I equate people that buy the souped up, tricked out systems from Alienware and others to doctors and dentists and lawyers who buy tricked out Harleys so they can seem "cool" yet have no idea how to even use these things, much less overclock them.

      Build and maintain the system yourself and you'll:

      a. Have a more powerful computer

      b. Get that power at a much lower cost

      c. Understand your system to where you don't need an added, trumped up service pack. YOU fix your system..which is quicker and easier than wai
      • You are such a geek its soooo cute!

        Building your own computer is so 90's. It takes a lot of time that people would rather spend money on to get the damn thing already pre-made. You see, those folks have actual LIVES they'd like to live. Once and a while they'll play games on their fancy alienware box then go out and do OUTSIDE things. Can't do those if you're trying to figure out what PSU won't overheat your videocard!

        The box you build yourself will only be cheaper if your time is of no value, pretty much

      • Re:This "news article" was sponsored by... (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Chyeld ( 713439 ) <chyeld.gmail@com> on Tuesday May 03, 2005 @11:42AM (#12420784)
        If you have the money to buy pretty things, then by all means, buy pretty things.

        I've never understood this additude that among certain circles of geeks where not having the time to devote your life to building your own equates to being required to live without.

        Is building your own rewarding to some? Damn straight it is.

        Is building your own sometimes less expensive? Yes, more often than not.

        Is building your own a better way to get the look YOU want? Only if you happen to have that creative streak in you that lets you be both geek and artist.

        Is building your own the ONLY way to do? HELL NO!

        Look, doctors, dentists, and other people with money enough to throw away on pretty things typcially have better things to do with their time than spend it mucking around building their own version of every pretty toy they can afford. Usually, this better thing happens to be MAKING MONEY.

        Yes, it's nice that you spent your life building everything you own, from the misshappen, mangled shirt on your back to the chair your butt is resting on.

        But the rest of us, those of us with lives, happen to only find building our own stuff fun if it's being done as a hobby. Which means, the rest of the stuff we own we BUY.

        Get off the high horse and join the rest of civilization.

  • Oops (Score:2, Funny)

    by portwojc ( 201398 )

    What is thy bidding, my master?

  • I admit, booting the system to "what is your bidding my master"

    Crazy power freak!

  • They didn't stand up to a Slashdotting..

  • Now witness the power... (Score:4, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 03, 2005 @09:20AM (#12419183)
    ...of this fully operational Slashvertisement.

    • Re:Now witness the power... (Score:5, Funny)

      by Golias ( 176380 ) on Tuesday May 03, 2005 @09:35AM (#12419344)
      Ben: That's no article. That's an advertizement.

      Han: Don't be silly, no honest company would run an advertizement as a front page sto... I've got a bad feeling about this...
      • Vader: Luke I am your father ,tell me are you happy with your mortage . Sith finances can help you save up to 29%.

        Luke:..... Uh no thanks .

        Vader: Fair enough , on with the saber swinging.

        Luke : I will never turn to the darkside .

        Vader : Why not , if you sign up right now ill throw in this free pencil holder and a bretzel.

        Luke : Hm , no never .If i do that then there can be no sequal , and i make my money off merchandise.

    • Re:Now witness the power... (Score:5, Funny)

      by IainHere ( 536270 ) on Tuesday May 03, 2005 @10:34AM (#12419967)
      Tarkin: Would you prefer another advert, a lucrative advert? Then name the vendor! I grow tired of asking this so it'll be the last time: Where is the sales base?
      Princess Leia: Kuro5hin. They're on Kuro5hin.
      Governor Tarkin: There. See, Lord Vader, she can be reasonable. Continue with the operation. You may advertise when ready.
      Princess Leia: What?
      Governor Tarkin: You're far too trusting. Kuro5hin is too obscure to make an effective demonstration - but don't worry; we'll deal with your rusty's friends soon enough.

  • Oh well... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by LegendOfLink ( 574790 ) on Tuesday May 03, 2005 @09:20AM (#12419184) Homepage
    I thought Alienware was going to be kinda creative and maybe make the case out of the shape of a Millenium Falcon, instead of copping out like the bunch of uncreative money grubbers they are and throwing a crappy graphic on the side of their standard case.

    I'm sure fanboys everywhere are rejoicing right now.

  • Not that appealing (Score:3, Informative)

    by trawg ( 308495 ) on Tuesday May 03, 2005 @09:21AM (#12419191) Homepage
    I admit, booting the system to "what is your bidding my master", sounds appealing.
    Yeh, but I'm still not going to spend $5k on a tricked-up PC just to do something that I could do in Windows 3.11 ten years ago :)
    • Sounds???
      You youngsters and your hip lingo.
      Back in my day the only sound computers could make were unitelligible beeps.
      The cool thing back then was to change the C:/ prompt to What is Thy bidding, my Master:/, but then of course the great Onion famine of '46 kicked in and we had to sell all of our posessions and move to Idaho.
      Idaho back then was not a part of the Union, ...

  • um (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Cowpat ( 788193 ) on Tuesday May 03, 2005 @09:21AM (#12419199) Journal
    am I the only person who thinks that those look exactly like standard alienware PC's with pretty pictures featuring starwars characters on the side?

  • your? (Score:5, Informative)

    by circusboy ( 580130 ) on Tuesday May 03, 2005 @09:21AM (#12419200)
    Thy, "What is thy bidding, my master?" ;)

    • Re:your? (Score:2, Funny)

      by operagost ( 62405 )
      Damn Quakers.

    • Re:your? (Score:5, Informative)

      by feronti ( 413011 ) <gsymons&gsconsulting,biz> on Tuesday May 03, 2005 @09:35AM (#12419348)
      Of course if GL had known what he was doing, he would have known that 'thy' is the familiar form. 'You' is the honorific form in English. We just got rid of the familiar form, so 'thy' only sounds more formal... it would in fact be an insult to address someone of higher station using the 'thy' form. It'd be like using 'tu' instead of 'usted' in Spanish. So, the correct way for Vader to address the Emperor would in fact be "What is your bidding my master?"
      • Perhaps GL was trying to imply that The Emperor and Vader were very close. To imply that relationship between the Emperor Palpatine and his apprentice was as close as God was to his Son, only evil.

      • Languages are alive (Score:3, Informative)

        by FreeUser ( 11483 )
        Of course if GL had known what he was doing, he would have known that 'thy' is the familiar form. 'You' is the honorific form in English. We just got rid of the familiar form, so 'thy' only sounds more formal...

        I don't much care for Lucas, or the latest abominations he has foisted upon us in the last few years, but in his defense it should be pointed out that ...

        Languages are living, mutating things. They aren't static, and what was true in 1500 by and large isn't true today.

        Thy may have been the mo
        • I'd say it's fairly important for those religious people to realize thou is the familiar form, since that would change the tone of the ten commandments significantly. Also, it seems important that people in the new testament refer to god with thou, indicating they had a familiar relationship with him.

          So, while language may be continually evolving, there's something to be said for knowing its history, since so many works that are a part of our culture take on an entirely different meaning otherwise. How
        • Languages are living, mutating things. They aren't static, and what was true in 1500 by and large isn't true today.

          That's correct. And today, the use of the familiar form at all is largely gone. So, using it as an honorific is still technically incorrect, because in modern usage, it's use at all is just wierd:) I wouldn't say that 'thy' and 'your' have reversed meanings... they're just used so rarely that nobody understands their use anymore. I would argue that in the KJV of the bible (the version that m
    • With Alien Ware it's more like, "What is thy budget, my master."

  • Finally... (Score:4, Funny)

    by Slider451 ( 514881 ) <slider451 AT hotmail DOT com> on Tuesday May 03, 2005 @09:22AM (#12419209)
    They can recycle the Windows 3.1 sound themes that were out in the early 90s. Having Luke say "what a piece of junk!" whenever you had an error, and Darth yell "I have you now!" when you you get a GPF. Those were the days.
    • I know, Star Wars has so many quotable moements:

      I don't like sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating, and it gets everywhere. Not like here. Here everything's soft... and smooth...

  • alternate link for iconset (Score:3, Informative)

    by Provocateur ( 133110 ) <shedied@gmail . c om> on Tuesday May 03, 2005 @09:22AM (#12419211) Homepage
    AT deviantart:

    http://www.deviantart.com/view/17884431/ [deviantart.com]

  • What, no Jar Jar? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Gloggy ( 818879 ) on Tuesday May 03, 2005 @09:22AM (#12419214)
    All that's missing is a pair of floppy ears on the side and a startup sound going "Mesa booting massar..."

  • Would not buy it (Score:2, Interesting)

    by squisher ( 212661 )
    Despite of being totally overpriced, I think I would never buy any AlienWare after reading some ad in Wired where it said something along the lines:

    I can play games, render an animation, listen to mp3 and encode some video, all with very little slowdown to each other! Thank you AlienWare!

    Wow. Unless they think that you will be playing Solitaire, I really doubt that that statement could be true. And as such, they are doing false advertisement, something I really hate and so even if I had the money, I wo

  • Light side looks the best. (Score:3)

    by will_die ( 586523 ) on Tuesday May 03, 2005 @09:24AM (#12419231) Homepage
    However I am sure that the dark side would work equally as well at collecting dust as it sits under my desk.

  • !=chix (Score:5, Funny)

    by goodgoing ( 810124 ) on Tuesday May 03, 2005 @09:25AM (#12419236) Homepage
    girl: what's that?

    geek: it's my uber star warz mod pimped out rig that i heard about on the popular tech news website /.

    girl: kbye

  • I'm getting old... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by OneOver137 ( 674481 ) on Tuesday May 03, 2005 @09:26AM (#12419248) Journal
    They look like toys for an 8-year-old.
    • They look like toys for an 8-year-old.

      Did you miss this quote from the submission?

      I admit, booting the system to "what is your bidding my master", sounds appealing.

      They are toys for an 8-year-old.

      • Toys for 8-year-olds with moneyed parents who grew up with Star Wars .. that's why the graphics are from Eps 4-5-6. AlienWare knows what they're doing.

        I'm just surprised they're not marketing them as "collectors items".

  • I used to love starwars, now it's becoming tiresome. I'm sick to death of all the hype.

    The stories have gone down the toilet also.

  • $1499?? (Score:2, Informative)

    by Evro ( 18923 ) *
    $1499 for a PC with an AMD 3000, 512 MB ram and a GeForce 6600, no DVD or CD burner, no screen, and Windows XP Home? I built a PC for about $1000 a year ago with an AMD 3200, 1 gig ram, GF 5700 FX, and a DVD-ROM/CDRW.

    Oh, but the case has a nice decal on it, I forgot.
  • From the FAQ:
    Alienware recommends Microsoft® Windows® XP
    Professional.
  • Why the hell do shameless plugs for Alienware PCs make good stories but my submission on a life-size X-Wing fighter [ebay.com] that was up for auction on eBay is rejected?

    In an effort to offer some constructive critisism, perhaps they should add a feature that allows the editors to give a one-liner as to why every story I submit is rejected. Perhaps I don't talk good. But how the hell would I know that is why my submission was rejected?

    I'm really starting to dislike this place. But I guess that's just my opinion.
  • I wonder what Alienware is paying for the 'rights' to use the Star Wars theme? Up-front payment and then royalties?

    I doubt that in the end they will recoup their investment. Perhaps we'll be able to pick-up some of the machines real cheap in mid-June with all the other discounted SW toys. How does an Alienware Happy Meal toy sound?

    But Alienware is being smart, by not using a completely modified case they can always replace the covers on unsold units.
  • Maybe you should buy a beige box instead and use the rest of your money to buy flowers for a girl...

  • Tell ya what... (Score:2, Insightful)

    by BaudKarma ( 868193 )
    I admit, booting the system to "what is your bidding my master", sounds appealing."

    If that's all you need to complete your Star Wars experience, I can set you up for just a few hundred dollars. No need to shell out thousands for some overpriced computer system!
  • That it's almost the second page of comments and nobody imagined a Beowulf cluster of these yet!
  • "How dumb can thee be, my master!"

    You could be a bitch to Lucas and Alienware, both at the sametime through a single purchase!!Limited Availability!!!
  • However I don't have enough money. I also have a brain which is another sticking point.

  • For added "realism" (Score:3, Funny)

    by artifex2004 ( 766107 ) on Tuesday May 03, 2005 @09:44AM (#12419432) Journal
    ...make sure you get them to install Hitachi Deathstars.
  • Sorry, but it really seems discordant to mix these.

    What's next, 3D shutter glasses that look like Geordi La Forge's visor [imdb.com] from Star Trek: TNG?

    (actually, those might be cool)
  • backing the development of these things. The word that keeps coming to mind is "gay". Not that there is anything wrong with that.

  • Oh no (Score:3, Funny)

    by dtfinch ( 661405 ) * on Tuesday May 03, 2005 @09:57AM (#12419540) Journal
    Alienware recommends Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional

    They've turned to the dark side.
  • ..... with instructions on how to use the force to overcome the blue screen of death?
  • With the airbrushing and all, it looks just like my cousin's van circa the late 1970's. Change the wallpaper to a dayglow Frank Frazetta poster, toss in a can of Ozium and it will be perfect!

  • But... (Score:3, Funny)

    by WormholeFiend ( 674934 ) on Tuesday May 03, 2005 @10:03AM (#12419593)
    Does Linux boot first?

    • Re:But... (Score:2, Funny)

      by stg ( 43177 )
      Only in the first version of the case. In the next version, they will slow it down, so that the "Windows XP Professional Recommended" in their site makes more sense.

      After the outcry of the fans, there will be a third version where they both boot at the same time.
  • I sure hope the millions of nerds that have brought that site to its knees this mornign are making it worthwhile for Alienware. The site is fux0red.

  • I admit, booting the system to "what is your bidding my master", sounds appealing."

    That was the startup sound on my home machine back in 1994. I wonder if they removed the music from the background of the clip. It was fun for about a week before I replaced it.

  • I admit, booting the system to "what is your bidding my master", sounds appealing."...

    You boot your system more then once?
  • And I'm not ashamed to admit it. If for nothing else, I like this development because it's simply a great business idea. I've been a fan of Alienware for a long time. I've never had the money to buy one of their rigs, but if I did, I would. My home-brew Frankenstein's-monster dual Athlon has given me no end of problems over the past two years. After 3 power supplies, 4 hard drives, a new RAID card, two new video cards, 3 keyboards, 3 KVM's, and, finally 2 replacement mobo's, I think it's finally settling do
  • For people who need to go out of their way to say they're geeks.

    (Where as geeks with nothing to prove make an R2-D2 case mod on their own).
  • I just made the last payment on my Ferrari laptop!
  • I'll be impressed when they put out the Mean Girls 2 PC. Any sucker can do Star Wars, it takes an artist to get the Mean Girls 2 theme down.
  • I ordered one a bit ago and got an early version of the "Dark Side" model. All it did was whine and get all angsty when I asked it to do even the simplest tasks.
    They are promising the next model of Dark Side will be more mature, though.

  • I have an Alienware Area 51-M laptop from 2003 (Score:5, Informative)

    by tepp ( 131345 ) on Tuesday May 03, 2005 @10:58AM (#12420216)
    And it's really not worth the money I paid for it.

    I am very disappointed with it. I can't wait for my next computer - which will NOT be alienware!

    This computer runs real hot. So hot, that if you put it in your lap, you can get second degree burns within a few minutes. I got blisters all over my thighs once that took a week to go away. I put a pillow between me and it the next time, and the pillow's polyester fill melted. Now I use a wooden cutting board. What a hassle!

    The computer runs so hot, you can't use any wireless cards on it. Those cards burn up, then cause the computer to freeze. Ach! I finally got it to be wireless by using one of those usb wireless cards, which because it hangs off the back, was able to stay cool enough to function. But I can never use my card slot on this computer, ever.

    My graphics card - the ATI mobility radeon 9000 - is sorely outdated. It barely dragged its butt through thief III, but when I put Everquest II on it, it just choked. It's underpowered and most games are designed with a NVIDIA in mind, so my ATI mobility card looks even worse.

    It weighs a ton. At 20 lbs, it wears me down if I have to take it long distances. Gah.

    It's LOUD. The fan in the computer sounds like a hurricane. Plus even the power supply is loud! The power supply goes HISSSSS all the time, even when the computer is shut off, and it's very annoying. One guest thought we had escaping gas... turned out he was just hearing the power supply.

    I cannot afford a new computer until December, but I am so looking forward to it. I have learned my lesson. I do not want my high end gaming machine on a laptop. I will keep my gaming machine in a tower so I can upgrade it properly, and get a LIGHTWEIGHT, SILENT, and COOL-RUNNING laptop that I can carry around with me so I can program wherever I go. This noisy, hot, heavy beast is just too cumbersome to program on, let alone play any games on its outdated graphics card!

  • I think people are missing the point... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by khellendros1984 ( 792761 ) on Tuesday May 03, 2005 @11:12AM (#12420352) Journal
    Computer mods are supposed to be something to make your rig unique, to be something to show off and say that you did yourself. Why call these custom cases? Someone else did the design, someone else did the assembly. Sure, it looks nice, but all it says is that you can plop down some cash for a computer! It's like the use of leetspeak or netspeak or whatever...hackers used to use it to get around newsgroup text filters. Now people use it to sound cool. "Custom" cases....just another group jumping on a different bandwagon.

  • Laaaaaaammmmeeee......... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Cervantes ( 612861 ) on Tuesday May 03, 2005 @11:36AM (#12420707) Journal
    Since when does this crap count as a "pimped out rig"? Really, from the look of it, it's a stock alienware case (which, nowadays, I can do down to my local IT vendor and get something remarkably close for $75CDN) with a graphic on the side. Oooooh, wow, check out the l33t rig! Oh, my GAWD, you PREINSTALLED the STAR WARS DESKTOP THEME too? I'm totally sold! Can I please give you my money and wait 4-6 weeks for delivery??? Can I buy 10, in case they become a collectors item?

    Worst. "Mod". Ever.

    I'd have some respect for it if it was something a little more hardcore. Light sabre that shoots out from the 5 1/4" bay if your biometric doesn't scan right. A nice custom case shaped like a stormtroopers helmet. Hell, even a nicely cut out side panel with back lighting. This? This is a fuckin ironed-on graphic. Ooooh, wow.

    Of course, we all know the best Star Wars mod ever was the Millenium Falcon PC. Now, we know what the lamest was too.

    Thanks Slashdot.

  • The horror! The horror! (Score:4, Funny)

    by plopez ( 54068 ) on Tuesday May 03, 2005 @12:05PM (#12421073) Journal
    "Misah thinks you're writing a letter. Misah help!"

    or how about:

    "an illegal operation performed has been. Shutting down, program is."

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