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# Hello worlding
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In this presentation i will look at the work made across the 2 years & __how it changed my understanding of programming and code documentation.__
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__Code documentation as a broad set of practices__: comments in code, readme files, tutorials, guides, references, moments of collective learning, workshops, pair programming and collaborative versioning.
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These aspects are __usually marginal in software development__: byproducts surrounding the real thing, extra work, and demand of resources often not available in the scarce economy around documentation.
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I would like to focus on these marginal zones, bring them to the center and reflect on how they can enrich practices of programming, __opening entry points and backdoors into the making of software for people that are usually left out__.
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The institutional required list of things done during these two years is left in the background, squint your eyes and move the cursor to the edges to see through.
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## Getting startled
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- Some previous experience in programming
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- mainly used to develop interactive tools
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- for visual art, performance and dance
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- for corporate web design / development
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<br>
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- Code to understand our surroundings
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- Code as craftmanship
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- Code as service
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- Code as solution
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- Code as profession
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- Code as product
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<br>
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- Enroll in XPUB, meet the group
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- Different backgrounds ~ skills ~ values
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- Different ways of working together
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- __how to program together with different programming knowledges?__
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<br>
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__started documenting things__
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![documentation workout](https://hub.xpub.nl/soupboat/~kamo/static/img/workout.png)
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_intro on my page in the soupboat_
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<br>
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- First months: incredible
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- New things: self-hosting, soupboat as shared space, terminal, python
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- Terror of modifying files in the soupboat and break everything
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- Timid and minimal edits in homepage
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- Made a lot of different prototypes
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- It's cute to look back and see from where we started
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<br>
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![screen of soup-gen](https://hub.xpub.nl/soupboat/~kamo/static/img/recap/soup-gen-2.jpg)
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_soup generator aka our first prototype_
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![screen of soup-gen with tech questions](https://hub.xpub.nl/soupboat/~kamo/static/img/soup.png)
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_doubts for the soup gen_
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<br>
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- __but also traumatic!__
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- Severe stress after first two SIs
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- Friction and contrast between
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- Care within the group, attention to group dynamics
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- Group expectations and ambitions for projects
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- Deadlines and production plans
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<br>
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- __Ended up centralizing a lot of technical work 😞__
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- Always available and excited to share / offer skills to make things happen
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- But not always taking into consideration the overall group engagement with programming
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<br>
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__realized after many year of collective practice that there's a difference in making something for a group and making something together.__
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Started appreciating other kind of values in code
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<br>
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- the parable of SI18 was healing
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- smaller groups, rotation between caretakers and contributors, weekly releases
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- sometimes difficult give value to things made in such a rush
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- but on the course of the issue something changed
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- at the beginning we were just giving themes or keywords as prompts
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- later on it transformed to __offering formats and inviting particular workflows__
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## From code to code documentation
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- These ideas of __invitation, offering, proposal__ resonated a lot
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- especially with the concept of __situated software__
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- aka software made with and within a group
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- __shared infra- and social- structure__
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<br>
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- code as invitation
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- code as offering
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- code as proposal
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- code as care
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<br>
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- __when is code offered to others?__
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- at first wondered if the moment of offering and proposal could have been the format of the __demo__
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- _mother of all demos_ vibe
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- but as an approach felt too frontal and binary
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- developer vs user
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- and i didn't feel really connected with _demoscene_
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Eventually focused on something closer to home: __the friction between being frustrated having to deal with undocumented piece of software, and at the same time never documenting anything.__
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And realized that what I'm interested on besides developing tools, is the moment of development itself. And a way to share that with others it's code documentation. Creating entry points and opening backdoors to the making of software.
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> __Code documentation is an interface between the code, the user, the developer, and the world.__ Living close to the source code, but at the same time being less rigid and more expressive, it seems to be an ideal surface to influence software development practices.
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That was more or less the moment when I started being more aware about my and others approach to documentation. And learned how diverse and rich practices of code documentation can be:
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- Putting more efforts in writing readmes
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- Hosting workshops to share code
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- Organizing documentation sessions to dedicate time to writing docs
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- Making zine with prompts to start documenting: [care for code](https://hub.xpub.nl/soupboat/~kamo/care_for_code/)
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![scanned materials for the documentation sessions. some sticker, flyers and text, printed on pink paper](https://hub.xpub.nl/soupboat/~kamo/projects/dyc/gadget.jpg)
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_Materials printed for documentation session_
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![Scan of the zine Care for Code](https://hub.xpub.nl/soupboat/~kamo/static/img/care_for_code.png)
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_Care for code - zine for Documentation Session_
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__Code documentation as personal understanding__
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![a drawing with a cute bird playing the role of an API between server and client](https://hub.xpub.nl/soupboat/wlist/img/chae_api.jpg)
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![a screenshot of a meme with a soaked sweated man trying not to use the analogy of the restaurant to explain the api](https://hub.xpub.nl/soupboat/~kamo/static/img/miri.jpg)
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![fancy graphic designed documentation to digest flask](https://hub.xpub.nl/soupboat/wlist/img/supi_flask.jpg)
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_Chae's drawing - Miri's meme - Supi's diyry_
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<br>
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__Code documentation as shared struggle__
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![comment in code: ](https://hub.xpub.nl/soupboat/~kamo/static/img/comment_1.png)
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![comment in code](https://hub.xpub.nl/soupboat/~kamo/static/img/comment_2.png)
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![comment in code](https://hub.xpub.nl/soupboat/~kamo/static/img/comment_3.png)
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![comment in code](https://hub.xpub.nl/soupboat/~kamo/static/img/comment_4.png)
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![comment in code](https://hub.xpub.nl/soupboat/~kamo/static/img/comment_5.png)
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_Comments in the code screaming for help_
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<br>
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__Code documentation as collective practice__
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![Documentation for a repeat function with some nice parrot](https://hub.xpub.nl/soupboat/~kamo/thesis/img/SI16_NB.jpg)
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_Folder with Jupiter notebook files, each with a different piece of documentation for SI16_
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![piece of flask documentation written with Chae](https://hub.xpub.nl/soupboat/~kamo/static/img/flask.png)
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_Writing some documentation for Flask together with Chae_
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- __Code documentation as poetic and political writing__
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- Queer Motto API, The Screenless Office
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- __Code documentation as invitation for others to participate__
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- SI18 CMS for printing post-it
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- __Code documentation as starting point for further explorations__
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- See Kiwiboat, that lead to Diffractive Reader, that lead to Pad-bis
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- __Code documentation as a way to question code__
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- See the discomfort in writing-list, 4x-faster, pad-bis
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The project is a restitution of this year long process.
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## plans for final publication and grad show
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__Code documentation is a marginal practice, often invisible labor, usually left in the background.__ For grad show and final pubblication would like to bring it more to the center.
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There will be 2 kind of things at the exhibition
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### 1. helloworlding.com
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Is a small website to archive pathways through code documentation practice.
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at the current stage a pathway is an annotated collection of readmes. Readmes are presented with a short intro and link directly at the place where they originally can be found, that is in their repos.
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It will be exhibited on a small screen connected to the Soupboat, for the occasion going on a field trip at the slash gallery.
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<style>
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.double {
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display: inline-flex;
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flex-direction: column;
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vertical-align: middle;
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line-height: 1;
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text-align: center;
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}
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</style>
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This archive is a <span class="double"><span>reading</span><span>writing</span></span> machine.
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- __reading__ because it's a curated restitution of different practices of code docs
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- __writing__ because it systematizes a research process, offering a surface where to keep track of methods through time, and see through snapshots how they transform over time
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<!-- Pathways available at the moment: -->
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<!-- 1. welcoming language as a mode of address -->
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<!-- 2. cover arts and visual entry points -->
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_For the exhibition the website will work as an invitation, with the possibility to sign in to receive update about new pathways._
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_⚠️ work in progress_
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### 2. readme readers
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Keyword are:
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__readme republishing__
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__readme readers__
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There will be printed snapshots of readme files mainly coming from tools developed in the context of the soupboat, bound together as _readme readers_ by means of a custom, loose binding setup.
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These readers will be a snapshot of the current pathways curated in [helloworlding.com](helloworlding.com)
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These are aspects of code documentation practices I want to be reflected in the installation setup:
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- __proximity to the code__: as a lens to look at it, as an entry point to let people in. as a bait to lure a tech audience not so used to this kind of discourses about sociality around software.
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- __multiplicity__: many different situations, many different ways to document, not 1 size fits all
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- __worlding__: documentation can influence the way we think about code. can create worlds around it. system of values different from ultra optimization, productivity and tech solutionism
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To bring under spotlight a theme that is __a niche in a niche__ requires to create some relatable entry points. Code documentation is a surface in the middle of different kinds of audience, so different kind of entry points are necessary.
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![soupboat with legs](https://hub.xpub.nl/soupboat/~kamo/thesis/img/soupboat.jpg)
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That's why for the exhibition im binding the readme readers with __clumsy 3d printed legs__. These legs started as a playful device to make our server run 4x faster, and eventually became one of visible marks of software developed around Soupboat.
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As binding device they work as:
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- a small pack of goofy creatures in the ecosystem of soupboat
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- a playful display for a usually intimidating material
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- embracing clumsyness, unfinished and provisional states, tryout and failures, commitment to constant gardening and care for code documentation, its readers and all the surroundings
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![prototype legs binding](https://hub.xpub.nl/soupboat/~kamo/static/img/binding-legs.jpg)
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![Prototype legs binding](https://hub.xpub.nl/soupboat/~kamo/static/img/logs.jpg)
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### Future
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[helloworlding.com]() will work as a hub to continue the research and practice around code docs, like the archive in the soupboat has done these two years.
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