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Kinda, but zero other carriers do the switching that causes the issue, so the one special snowflake carrier should be the one to make it not break things, rather than expecting every app developer everywhere to patch around it. (Because they won't)
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May 28, 2017 00:40
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Javid posted:Kinda, but zero other carriers do the switching that causes the issue, so the one special snowflake carrier should be the one to make it not break things, rather than expecting every app developer everywhere to patch around it. (Because they won't) I guess if Google had access to every apps source code that would be possible. If you don't design your app to handle network interruptions you've royally failed as a mobile developer. I have no apps on my phone that break because my network drops to switch so it's more likely your special snowflake app that's the issue.
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May 28, 2017 13:34
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Javid posted:Something like "no switching while the phone is unplugged and in use" So, no switching during situations where switching is a useful feature?
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May 28, 2017 14:57
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Javid posted:Kinda, but zero other carriers do the switching that causes the issue, so the one special snowflake carrier should be the one to make it not break things, rather than expecting every app developer everywhere to patch around it. (Because they won't) do you know how computer networking works? what about computer programming? some of the things in your posts lead me to believe that you might not. the behavior you are describing, where an application fails because of a change in network state, is a classic and basic problem in computer networking. if an android app fails because of a change in network state, it is because the app was not made well. a good app will have error-handling code to account for situations like this, but the reality of the world is that not everyone who makes apps is a programming genius, and even programming geniuses make mistakes sometimes and when an app has this problem, this is not something google can fix. in order for google to fix this, on a technical level they would have to diagnose the networking bugs in every app on the Play store and then modify the offending code inside each app. this is not something any company or organization in the world could practically accomplish: such an endeavor would cost zillions of dollars, and the skill level required to debug and patch compiled apps means that there are probably not enough ninja-wizard QA people in the entire world to fill the workforce that such a thing would require. second, google cannot do this because they would be mucking around with code that does not belong to them, which would cause huge problems for them legally. i for one sure as hell don't want Google or my isp or cell provider messing around with apps on my phone, just so one class of mildly-inconvenient networking bugs might be less likely to occur
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May 28, 2017 16:37
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Looks like the Signal Spy devs are asking questions on /r/ProjectFi to see what's going on with the community. It seems a lot of people are leaving, about to leave, or thinking about leaving Fi. They cite reasons ranging from poor phone choice and no new features but it seems the biggest thing is that Fi's data is incredibly expensive if you use over 1GB. All of the other carriers have updated plans and whatnot but Fi hasn't changed since the first day. https://www.reddit.com/r/ProjectFi/comments/6doc4p/a_checkin_on_our_fi_community/
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May 28, 2017 19:36
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Color me shocked that another Google service has withered on the vine
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May 28, 2017 20:13
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I have no problems with Fi, but I rarely make calls or am away from Wi-Fi. As for phone choice and plan stagnation, I wonder if it's people who have to be on the bleeding edge of everything. They get on Fi because it's the new hotness from Google, then when the luster wears off they just decide 'eh, it ain't that great'.
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May 28, 2017 20:13
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Is there a way to force the phone to use Wi-Fi for calls? When I'm at home there's just barely enough cell signal that the phone always tries to use it, and often the call will cut out or just be really bad as a result. I've taken to just doing calls with my PC at this point. It seems like the only time it'll use wifi is if it's already tried to use cell once and failed?
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May 28, 2017 20:15
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ThermoPhysical posted:Looks like the Signal Spy devs are asking questions on /r/ProjectFi to see what's going on with the community. Yeah, I've got 3 lines on T-Mobile with unlimited data for $80/month, and I get to use any phone I want. I had contemplated hopping over to Fi, but doesn't make much sense with that. I guess I'd get faster international data, but ehhhhh.
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May 28, 2017 21:34
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I only wanna use Pixel or Nexus phones, but not having the option to use anything else, especially in an emergency, is worrying to me. For me, I use 3 GB of data every month and on the cusp of switching for another plan that would give me triple the data for the same price.
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May 28, 2017 22:28
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If I'm stateside I use less than 1gb per month, if I'm traveling internationally (like right now I'm in Portugal) Fi is the most painless experience I've ever had with cellular service in a foreign country.
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May 28, 2017 23:00
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VostokProgram posted:Is there a way to force the phone to use Wi-Fi for calls? When I'm at home there's just barely enough cell signal that the phone always tries to use it, and often the call will cut out or just be really bad as a result. I've taken to just doing calls with my PC at this point. It seems like the only time it'll use wifi is if it's already tried to use cell once and failed? Put your phone into airplane mode, then turn on wifi.
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May 29, 2017 07:20
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Uthor posted:I only wanna use Pixel or Nexus phones, but not having the option to use anything else, especially in an emergency, is worrying to me. Fwiw, you can chuck the sim in any t-mobile compatible phone and have service, minus the network switching features. You just can't *activate* your service on any device not on their list. It works as a stopgap if your nexus dies and you're waiting on them to ship the replacement, if you have a spare device.
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May 29, 2017 07:34
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Oh! Forgot to add that apparently the Signal Spy devs can speak to the Google Fi guys directly. So if you guys have any concerns or anything, let them know? Here's hoping they're taking these to heart because a LOT of people hate that the $10/GB is really expensive now and every single phone they have is either dying (5X), dying so bad it's causing a lawsuit (5X and 6P), discontinued (6), overly expensive (Pixel), hard to actually buy (Pixel), possibly might get IMEI banned if you buy it used (Pixel, currently), and is supposedly having issues of its own in terms of stability over time (all of the devices). Honestly, it sounds like Google is just being Google and is out of touch with everyone that doesn't live in Mountain View and Fi will probably die because of that.
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May 29, 2017 10:23
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I know I'm definitely on the verge of switching because of the price. I usually use a little less than a GB of data, but that's never streaming music and being very conscious of my data usage in general. $30 a month is great on Fi, but for $40 on MetroPCS I could get 3GB and unlimited music streaming. Google needs to step up its game. Maybe have unlimited streaming from Google Play or something.
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May 29, 2017 12:01
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I'm in the maybe bailing soon boat as well. I'm growing tired of Android, it performs like crap on my 5X (I'm guessing lack of memory), and it seems like every major release has progressively gotten worse. I'd hate to lose the hot spot functionality and additional data SIM (I use it in my laptop). All of this plus the fact the other carriers are getting their acts together, the value just isn't there for Fi.
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May 29, 2017 15:10
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Are people generally unhappy with Fi or is it just the loudest voices? I've had it for a year and a half with a 5X and low data consumption and I've had very few issues but it seems like there are a lot of legitimate grievances.
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May 29, 2017 17:01
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I think it's people who are using a lot of data who are complaining, since (to me) the main benefit of Fi is that I have a super low phone bill because I'm almost always on wifi when I use my phone.
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May 29, 2017 17:56
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flatluigi posted:I think it's people who are using a lot of data who are complaining, since (to me) the main benefit of Fi is that I have a super low phone bill because I'm almost always on wifi when I use my phone. Actually it looks like people who are upset the most are the ones who bought a 5X as it's dying for every single person who has one...it's just a matter of WHEN. The 6P is also having issues as well, don't know which ones but apparently enough to sue Google over it. The Pixel is expensive, hard to actually buy new, and Google is currently IMEI-banning people who have a Pixel sold on Swappa that was originally bought from Fi. Google needs to fix this but they probably won't, honestly.
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May 29, 2017 19:00
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My 5X stopped working. Using it to GPS my way home and listen to music in the car for two hours on charge. When I got inside it was off and won't come back. They're sending me a replacement refurb after holding 250 on my credit card.
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May 29, 2017 19:11
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Wait, this imei banning thing.... I use the pixel I bought through fi on tmobike now. If I cancel my Fi service are they going to assume I sold it and ban it? Wtf
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May 29, 2017 19:15
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The 5x failures wouldn't even be the deterrent they are if they actually officially acknowledged the issue and either recalled the things or made a policy to overnight ship the replacements instead of throwing them in a flat rate box and telling people to go buy a burner phone at wal-mart to use for the week it will spend with the postal service. (Which is actually a thing that has happened, more than once) Right now you have to deal with first line support, whose script doesn't include the 5x issues, so they'll claim it's out of warranty and refuse to help you. You have to bug the signal spy dev on reddit (lol) to escalate it to someone who can read and understand the English language, at which point you have to have $250 available for the hold they want to place on your card to take a week shipping you a refurbished device that will also die in a year.
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May 29, 2017 19:25
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Just a single data point, but about two weeks ago my wife's 5x died and they shipped her a brand new one.
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May 29, 2017 19:45
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They are overnighting me my refurb 5X... so help seems random? I used the chat system and the person I was speaking to said they were from Nevada during some chit chat.
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May 29, 2017 19:57
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ohgodwhat posted:Wait, this imei banning thing.... I use the pixel I bought through fi on tmobike now. If I cancel my Fi service are they going to assume I sold it and ban it? Wtf No one knows right now. All that's confirmed is that Project Fi is banning phones bought through Project Fi that was sold to someone else. There's talk of it MAYBE being those who bought them from that whole thing where people were buying from Fi and reselling to Jersey or something but there's no proof of that being the case. http://www.androidpolice.com/2017/05/25/resold-pixel-phones-originally-purchased-project-fi-imeis-blacklisted/ There are some in the comments who got their devices blacklisted and talk of Google giving them a new one because it's almost impossible to unlist it but who knows?
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May 29, 2017 20:44
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I ended up switching off of Fi a few months ago. A couple of reasons. First, and primarily, work is paying for my cellphone coverage now. No matter how cheap Fi is it doesn't beat AT&T for free. AT&T unfucking their international plan with the day pass really helps here too. Second, call quality at home is terrible. I routinely dropped calls between Sprint and T-Mobile at my house and the WiFi calling worked like hot garbage even on my 150/7 connection with a great router & WiFi setup. Seriously, I don't know why that system worked so terribly when Duo or WhatsApp calling works great. Third, the network switching gimmick never really worked for me. It seemed like it spend a lot of time looking for a network for some reason. Finish a call? Switch networks. Get off of WiFi? Lets switch networks again. Travelling worked great, tethering worked well. I liked that it just loving worked when I traveled to Europe or China, but for some reason it couldn't get it together in east TX. Now, was that enough to motivate me to switch back to AT&T? Not at all. I'd probably go back to Fi if work stopped picking up the bills, but while they are there is no compelling feature to keep me on Fi. It'd really help if Fi didn't treat the handful of devices it supports the same as every other carrier. How come we don't have RCS on Fi? Or much better SMS everywhere integration? Or voice mail or other features? Or quicker update rollouts? There is so much potential just sitting there and the usual Google no-announcements or updates policy doesn't help at all.
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May 29, 2017 21:08
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flatluigi posted:I think it's people who are using a lot of data who are complaining, since (to me) the main benefit of Fi is that I have a super low phone bill because I'm almost always on wifi when I use my phone. Fi has made a couple of nice changes since starting so I wouldn't say it's being left to whither on the vine just yet, but there's definitely more they can do. They added US cellular, data only SIMs, and a $5 discount for additional lines. I'd like for them to get more phones compatible with the service, especially budget phones. The Moto G4/5's have all the required antenna's but can't work with the service. Fi is hard to recommend as a budget option with the price of the Pixel being so high. I'd also like different plans, a cheaper one without unlimited calling, a data only plan, and plans for higher data users. Finally I wish I could tether with my data only SIM, I'm paying for the data anyways so I'm not sure why I can only do it from the phone. Not sure how viable any of these options are for Google really, but right now it's niche is just too small.
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May 29, 2017 21:42
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TBH, I'd be on TMobile if I had more than one line. I normally use 1.5 gb or so of data, this month I traveled a bit so it's up to 3 gb. The data is very expensive when you look at it on a per gb basis, but right now I'm looking at it on a total cost of plan for my usage.
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May 29, 2017 23:22
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Cloks posted:Are people generally unhappy with Fi or is it just the loudest voices? It's probably impossible to answer your question. The people posting in this thread (and in other niche websites online) are all people who would probably be considered "above average" in terms of their tech consumption habits, and in my experience these people are more likely to be nerds who will complain more about things. On the other hand Google Fi is a very nerdy service that is not really known except by these same people, so that complicates the analysis. But ultimately it's not like there is any neutral party out there conducting surveys of Fi users and releasing the results publicly, so I don't see how any kind of objective measure of Fi user happiness can be found right now. For me, the benefits of Fi made a lot of sense when they gave me a huge discount on my Nexus 5X and a small discount in my monthly bill versus my previous one (with T-Mo). But now the economics have changed, and I realize that the benefits I gained with my switch to Fi can probably be beaten if I go elsewhere. One part of this is the change I've made in my thinking about warranty and insurance for my 5X: before, it seemed like a great idea to have a carrier that would quick-send me a replacement without requiring me to send back my defective phone, but now that the 5X has been shown to be a shitheap, and that Google and LG are trying to hush-hush everyone from joining a lawsuit by sending even out-of-warranty people replacements, there is less reason to care about being on Fi or paying for device insurance. The second is a lot of Fi's value has been undercut by the price wars between the US carriers, so even the flat $10/GB with rebate for unused data seems expensive in comparison. I'm still on Fi as of today, but I'm definitely thinking more of switching. P.S. I also just found this article which might be attractive for people looking to buy a Pixel: https://newsroom.t-mobile.com/news-and-blogs/get-out-of-the-red.htm
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May 30, 2017 01:55
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Lutha Mahtin posted:It's probably impossible to answer your question. The people posting in this thread (and in other niche websites online) are all people who would probably be considered "above average" in terms of their tech consumption habits, and in my experience these people are more likely to be nerds who will complain more about things. On the other hand Google Fi is a very nerdy service that is not really known except by these same people, so that complicates the analysis. But ultimately it's not like there is any neutral party out there conducting surveys of Fi users and releasing the results publicly, so I don't see how any kind of objective measure of Fi user happiness can be found right now. Thanks for the thoughtful answer.
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May 30, 2017 02:35
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I went to Fi because I got a good discount on the phone(s) plus I think $50 for each phone in the play store. I was happy with my previous Nexus phone as well which helped me choose and Fi was reasonable compared to other carriers at the time. I'll also say that the Fi customer service is very good- they replaced my wife's phone without question twice (in the warranty period). I switched away because I got a good deal at T-mobile and was happy with them previously, and they're going to be about as much as my Fi is- my work stopped offering free wifi so I'm on LTE for 8 hours a day which boosts me to about 3GB of data every month. So the choice was basically a wash other than the fact I can do unlimited streaming with T-Mobile, which is a big one with a kid who wants to watch youtube videos or stream kids music in the car.
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May 30, 2017 03:53
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For those using Signal Spy and the data limit functionality, what's the difference between snooze and cancel for today? Both seem to turn off the data limit and leave it off until the next day.
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May 30, 2017 19:39
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If one switches away from Project Fi, does Google give a refund for unused funds and/or your partially used monthly fee? (ie, get half the month back if you leave two weeks in) There's no problem coming back, right?
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Jun 5, 2017 15:47
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Uthor posted:If one switches away from Project Fi, does Google give a refund for unused funds and/or your partially used monthly fee? (ie, get half the month back if you leave two weeks in) Yes on the refund, I imagine there won't be a problem coming back as well. The refund might take a while because the billing period has to close and then they wait like 30-45 days.
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Jun 5, 2017 15:51
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Over the past 7 months, my Project Fi bill has averaged $44, not including the cost of the phone itself. Sometimes more, sometimes less. I think this is still the cheapest for me. T-Mobile prepaid is $45 with 4 gb of data, but I have only gone over my 3 gb on Project Fi once, and this was while I was travelling. Most of the time I get some kind of a refund.
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Jun 5, 2017 16:21
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My problem is that I don't go over 3 gb of data only by really limiting my usage. I turn off data at home and suffer through spotty wifi when I'm in the yard. I worry about my parents' wifi going down while I'm watching YouTube and getting hit for $10 of usage without noticing ( ). I never, ever stream video on the go. I miss not worrying about it on the TMobile Nerd Plan (though I don't miss worrying about my minutes). If I had wifi at work, it'd be a different story. I think I'm going to give Cricket a shot. When I was unemployed and sitting at home all day, it was great!
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Jun 5, 2017 17:11
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I like my Google Fi plan, I use a little under 2 GB per month because I'm a weirdo and don't spend my time away from home playing on my phone
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Jun 5, 2017 17:19
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So my 5x died out of warranty and LG said they would fix it anyhow, and they refurbed mine I think, as the email I got said they replaced various hardware pieces. But when I got it back they never bothered to put an OS on it...so I had to send it back again. 
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Jun 6, 2017 15:14
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How is Fi coverage in western Canada? I make trips up there semi-frequently, and am wavering between Fi and trying a regular carrier plan with international coverage. (I don't think any prepaid carrier has international at reasonable rates, do they?) EDIT: and not just in Vancouver, but also along the 1? monster on a stick fucked around with this message at 16:57 on Jun 6, 2017 |
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Jun 6, 2017 16:47
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I'm going to be switching off of Fi because of really awful customer service and they can't seem to get my issue resolved. My microphone died on my month old Pixel XL, they overnighted me a warranty replacement, and after activating the replacement I get no data connection and a notification saying I owe a balance and until I pay it off I'll have no data. I don't owe a balance. Dealt with 4 different "specialists" and like 5 CS reps who all told me to follow the same steps and nothing has worked. It's been about 10 days without data and seems they've stopped replying to my emails. I have friends who have had great service with Fi but It's just been a crappy experience for me.
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Jun 6, 2017 17:42
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