• other office space Toronto tenants at Easter ParadeThe 44th edition of the Toronto Beaches Lions Club Easter Parade was held yesterday. The parade was full of happy, hoppy people including this year’s parade Grand Marshal, Heather Moyse; who won Canada’s first ever women’s gold medal in bobsled at the 2010 winter Olympics in Vancouver. The parade also had Miss Canada, Miss Teen Canada and various other beauty pageant winners, including Junior Miss.

    Some of the featured groups in the parade include the Malvern Marching Band, the Shriners’ Musical Train, the Tian Guo Marching Band of Canada, the York Lions Steel Band, The Toronto Fire Dept Pipes and Drums, a Zamboni from Ted Reeve Community Arena, members of the local roller derby league, four-legged friends and all sorts of clowns and other costumed characters, including, Storm troopers, Dark Sith, the Emperor, Darth Vadar and of course the Easter Bunny.

    Darth Vadar Does not Have Office Space Toronto, but he did attend Easter ParadeBefore going to the Easter Parade, my girlfriend and I had brunch with some new friends at the Beacher Cafe. As we were waiting to be seated, a familiar face walked by me, It was another tenant who had just moved in down the hall from my executive suite Toronto. I remembered his face, as we had talked in the kitchen while he was grabbing a coffee and I was microwaving a bag of popcorn. I remembered that he mentioned that he too started off as Toronto virtual office client with a $30 Toronto mail service. As his business expanded, he decided to take a Toronto shared offices and make use of having a professional receptionist answer his calls and greet his clients.

    After the parade, we went over to Ed’s Real Scoop for some homemade ice cream. While we were there I noticed the mother of one of my childhood friends. It seems that my friend Chuck who used to love to blow things up in the backyard and the ravine went back to school late in life, got his undergrad, his Masters, and now at 45 is working on his PHD in environmental sciences. I thought that was really cool.

    Today while I was driving down to my downtown Toronto office space, I noticed the roads were not that busy for a Monday, but remembered that unlike the many entrepreneurs who have office space Toronto at Telsec, many government workers and other companies also take Easter Monday off.

    The Easter Bunny Needs Downtown Toronto Office Space

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  • Every year we go through this cold month looking forward to spring or even the month of March. A few years ago the Ontario Government created “Family Day” as a new holiday in February, but did not make it a mandatory holiday. Only those in the public sector are guaranteed to have the day off, while those of us who work for ourselves or in the private sector end up working that day.

    It has been the private sector that has done more for helping people out of the February blaa’s. Over the past two weeks I have enjoyed Winterlicious (the February version of Summerlicious), it was a chance for people to try new restaurants I have never been to. 150 restaurants offered three course fixed price meals ranging from $15 to $45. Other culinary events were held at historic locations like Fort York, Campbell House, and Casa Loma. Even some cooking schools opened their doors to help the public discover new ideas in cooking.

    Other events in February are:

    The National Home Show featuring a tons of exhibitors, the Boulevard of Dreams, Main Stage Speakers, a Neighbourhood Marketplace, a Warehouse Sale and home renovation advice. February 18 to 27, 2011.

    The Yorkville Ice Fest, where the Bloor-Yorkville neighbourhood transforms into an icy wonderland, with ice-sculpture displays, games, food and family-friendly fun. February 26 and 27, 2011.

    The Outdoor Adventure Show features the newest information and equipment for travel, outdoor sports, scuba diving, boating and more. Featuring themed zones like the Great Ontario Outdoor Adventure Pavilion, the Adventure Travel Pavilion, a Canoe and Kayak Expo and Scubaworld. February 25 to 27, 2011.

    The most anticipated February event is The Canadian International AutoShow. The AutoShow delivers an experience unlike any other. The show features a chance to discover innovation never seen before, as well as a look at the newest offerings from car makers around the world. February 18 to 27, 2011.

    For many Valentines is the big day in February. There are tons of Valentines inspired events going on around Toronto like spa day deals, romantic arts and craft shows, hotel packages, theatrical shows, dinner specials and other events besides sitting at home with roses and a box of chocolates.

    I was planning to take my girlfriend to the Toulà the revolving restaurant at the top of the Westin Harbour Castle, but she put her food down and said no. She did not want me looking across the way at my downtown Toronto office space and thinking of work, especially if we were seated with a view of the Toronto Star Building. I tried to assure her that the restaurant was no longer revolving and that we could get a lake view seating, but she still did not want to risk it.

    Speaking of my office space Toronto, I met one of the newest tenants there yesterday in the kitchen, but found out they were not a new client to Telsec. It seems that similar to myself, they started off as a Toronto virtual office client and moved up to being a office space for rent client. That is where the similarities ended. For me I had not planned to have an office space, but continue to work from home until having an office was absolutely necessary. For them, they had subscribed to the Phone Answering Service/Toronto Mail Service a few months before they arrived from New York City. Their plan was to use this address until they could find an office space in Toronto for their three year project in Canada. It turns out that the office space that Telsec had to offer would work great for them over the three year project and they would not need to sign a long term lease.

    I also found out that the tenant was a bicycle enthusiast and that he has traveled the world with his bike. I told him that he would have to wait until March, but he should not miss the Toronto International Bicycle Show (www.bicycleshowtoronto.com).

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  • Virtual Office TorontoYesterday while I was working at my downtown Toronto office space, I got a call from a friend who wanted me to help them do something they had seen on Facebook. They wanted to do a sliced up a photo of their company logo to create a photo quilt for their company Facebook profile. I had seen this done on some web photo galleries and was quite impressed. The idea is to take a large image and slice into several smaller images and arrange them in a contact sheet style of a gallery so the thumbnails make one big image. Finding examples of this proved to be difficult, but I found this site that told me how to do it. hacking-facebooks-new-profiles.

    Downtown Toronto Office SpaceHere is an example of what a photo quilt would look like in a web photo gallery. Each of the thumbnails is a separate file. Individually they have no meaning, but when placed in a gallery they re-create the original image.

    After finding some tricks and tips on how to create this mosaic, I contacted my friend and told him that it would not be that difficult to do on his photo gallery too. As we chatted more, my friend brought up the fact that as his business was growing, it became harder and harder to operate out of the basement of his home. He started to think that his clients wondered if he was all that professional having his business address the same as his home. I told him that he should check out my office space Toronto, but he said that he was not really looking for an office, but more of a professional business address that was not a post office box. That is when I told him about how I started off with a virtual office Toronto at Telsec before I actually got a physical office. I told him he could get a Toronto mail service plan that would only cost him $30 a month and it had a much more prestigious address than any PO Box would give him. He really perked up when I told him that they had another reasonably priced plan that would give him a phone number with a professional receptionist answering his calls. He loved the fact that his clients could call him at his Toronto virtual office and have his calls forwarded to his home office without them knowing he was in his basement.

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  • I was thinking about this tonight about secret things people do that people do not need to know about. I knew I wanted something quick and easy, but was not sure what I wanted. We have all done it at some point or another and no one ever found out about it, unless we told them.

    Whether it is using canned tomatoes in a stew, buying store made salads, or using jarred tomato sauce as a base and adding other ingredients to claim as your own. Yes I am talking those little cooking cheats that your guests will never know you did. What did you think I was talking about?

    Tonight I made myself a Philly cheese stake on a flatbread using deli roast beef slightly warmed in a frying pan. I added some leftover sautéed onions and grated some cheddar and havarti (you can buy those pre shredded to as a nice shortcut). As I was eating my dinner, I realized that I did in just a few minutes, would have taken a lot longer had I started from scratch and would have tasted just the same.

    This got me to thinking of some of the other cheats or shortcuts I could do to save time, money or effort without the loss of flavour or enjoyment of a dish. Not dangerous stuff like using TNT to tenderize a tough cut of beef (like they did on “Myth Busters”), but things you already have in the freezer, pantry that can be used as a substitute for an ingredient or you can pick up on short notice that normally take a long time to prepare.

    Some of the cheating I have done are:

    When I decided one time to have some friends over for steak on the BBQ, I took my favourite marinade (Greek feta salad dressing) with me shopping at the St. Lawrence Market and had the butcher put the marinade into each bag with the steak and vacuum pack them. The vacuum packing of the steak in the marinade gave the same result in 1 hour than if the steak had marinated all night.

    I use canned tomatoes in my beef stew, instead of crushing fresh tomatoes. Speaking of tomatoes, I have a jar of homemade pickled green tomatoes that a family member made, that I have to find a use for.

    Another time, I was pressed for time and I was making dinner for a date and did not have much selection in the cupboard, so I cooked up a frozen pre-seasoned chicken breast. Then I boiled up a few packets of those oriental noodles (without using the flavour packet), drained the noodles and mixed in a little bit of the flavour packets and some other herbs  and spices I had on hand. She was impressed and thought I had taken hours preparing it.

    Speaking of soup, even with my signature French onion soup has a few shortcuts in it, like using store bought beef broth (I am sure many others do this too), but that makes up for the hour or so that I take to slowly caramelize the onions.

    What have you done that others may have considered cheating?

    I know that some of my friends, who when starting their businesses went and leased an office through a commercial real estate company felt that I was cheating when I went with a phone answering service/ Toronto mail service. While they had to pay rent, buy a telephone system, hire a receptionist, buy office furniture and lease office equipment like a photocopier and fax machine, I had a prestigious business address with a professional receptionist along with access to boardrooms and modern office equipment (on an a-la-cart basis) at fraction of the cost of theirs. To me that was not cheating, that was good business sense. When my need for a physical office grew, I was able to rent a shared office space without having to change my address or my phone number.

    Even now that I have a private furnish office space Toronto at the same location, I still pay less per month than they pay for their unfurnished office and have a more prestigious business address.

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  • Nuit Blanche is Toronto’s annual sunset to sunrise celebration of contemporary art. This year will be the fifth year or Nuit Blanche and it keeps getting bigger with over 130 installations.

    Nuit Blanche was originally conceived in Paris, France. The name is translated universally as  ’Sleepless Night’. The idea was to bring contemporary art to the masses in public spaces.

    Last night I went to Nuit Blanche pre-party for a Nuit Blanche installation that is not on the official guide. It was held at a friends photo studio with over 60 people in attendance. With that many people, many chose to hang out in the large common area of the studio complex. The common area of the studio complex has couches and chairs, but also a great view as the big garage door was open. A part of that view was another group from the next studio down, they were outside in the parking area putting the final touches on their mobile Nuit Blanche exhibit. They had built a platform that held a small band and was pulled by a bicycle.

    As myself and others watched them working away, I struck up a conversation with a woman who turned out to be an art dealer from New York City. She was in Town for Nuit Blanche looking for new artists to represent and was invited to come to this pre-party for Morpheous’ installation. As we talked, I learned that she came to Toronto on business 6 or 7 times a year.

    She told me most of her business is conducted in her hotel room and at the studios of the artists she was looking at. When she needed to meet with corporate art buyers, she found her hotel room to be too impersonal, so she would rent out a small parlour in the hotel. She had considered renting a Toronto office space with Toronto meeting rooms, it was not worth it for the few times she was in the city each year.  She did not need a virtual office or a Toronto mail service, as all her contracts and business dealings were done through her New York office space.

    So I told her about the Toronto meeting rooms at my office space Toronto and the fact they had several conference room rental options. I told her they had reasonable rates for full or half day rentals, even good rates for non virtual office Toronto or Toronto mail service clients.

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  • As an actor or someone who stumbled into acting (that is another story), I have done my dues as an extra in crowd scenes, along with many appearances as a background performer with specific directions. I have also done some bit parts without lines and even a few bit parts with spoken lines. One day, I realized that I wanted to act and not just be in front of the camera, so I no longer wanted to do extra work. I enjoyed stepping into a role and making it my own. I did not care if anyone actually recognized me.

    I started to take acting more seriously and had to prioritize acting over just getting my face on camera just so I could brag to my friends. My agent saw this and so did some local casting directors. I started to get more auditions for minor roles that were pretty much SOC (Silent on Camera) roles portraying specific characters who did not have lines.

    I started to get some bit parts (with or without lines), but that is when I really got back my acting bug. I took more lessons and auditioned for more roles. Once I started to get some more minor roles, I knew I would rather take one acting gig over one hundred background jobs. I liked having a role with a more specific challenge even if it meant less pay due to only spending one day on set.

    This panned out for me and I got a few minor roles in some small to medium productions. I did a few acting roles and even a few lead roles in some student films (without pay) and a couple of low budget TV shows (again, at low rates), but I enjoyed working at my acting craft. HEY! How many other people do you know can say they played the mayor of Toronto in a Chinese soap opera?

    I wanted to pursue an acting career, decided to tell my agent and my background agent, that I no longer wished to do background work. I was not saying it was beneath me or that it was out of my league, I just did not want to do that type of work anymore… This decision almost bit me, as I almost automatically turned down background work on Degrassi: The Next Generation.

    When I got called to do some background work (after my choice to no longer do it) I almost turned it down, until I found out it was as a pizza delivery guy on Degrassi. I took the gig only because it was Degrassi. I grew up watching the original Degrassi series, so I was pumped to get a chance to be a background player on this new series. I was saddened by the fact that I ended up on the cutting room floor.

    A year later, I once again got a chance  to be a background player on Degrassi. I almost turned it down, figuring that I would not get seen and that I really did not want to be in a crowd shot again.  But again, just for bragging rights, I took the job. This time, I did not expect any exposure, but I did it for the quick cash I would make.

    Just the other day, I happened to find on the  CTV.ca website, a special called ”Degrassi Takes Manhattan”. In clip 4 of this special, I recognized the last work I did on this show. Sure enough, I was able to spot myself in several shots.

    Remember, I do not act for the money, fame or else wise, I do it for the love of acting. I did Degrassi for myself and bragging rights. I did it because I grew up with the original series. I wanted to be able to say I did something on Degrassi, even if it was background work. When the episode did come out, my scene did not make it. I was a little disappointed, but hey it was a paid gig and I at least got on the set of Degrassi.

    A year later, I got another call to work on Degrassi, I agreed to take the background work, only because it was Degrassi. This time it was a casino scene and I was going to be a gambler. I was placed so that I was crossing and hanging out behind the main actors who were playing black jack. I figured now I would be seen on Degrassi and my dream would be fulfilled. I would no longer do background work and go back to seeking acting work.

    As most actors will tell you, you cannot make a full time living as an actor in Canada. While I continued to audition and take workshops to improve my chances at getting roles. I kept a roof over my head by running my own business. Even though my work was primarily done at home or at my clients location, I knew I needed to have a prestigious business address to show potential clients that I was serious. I looked at several Toronto office space locations and quickly realized what I needed was a virtual office service, to give the appearance of having a real office.

    As many of my readers know, I soon found that I needed more than just a Toronto mail service or even a mail and telephone answering service. I decided to take a serviced office at the same Toronto office business centre, without having to change my address or telephone number.

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  • This past weekend I escaped my Toronto office space and took my girlfriend camping for 5 days. We left on Thursday and headed down to Turkey Point without giving much thought to the date or what towns were not far away.

    Thursday was August 12 and Friday would be the 13th, Turkey Point is only minutes away from Port Dover. Every Friday the 13th, thousands of motorcycles from across North America converge on Port Dover and this one was no different.

    Actually this Friday the 13th was different, August 13th is the only one this year, so more people made a point of attending. I later heard that police and organizers estimate that more than 150,000 people and over 50,000 motorcycles poured into the town of 6,000 this year.

    You could not drive anywhere near the actual town of Port Dover with a car, only motorcycles were allowed. Even the back roads around the area were full of motorcycles trying to find alternative routes into town.

    Even the campground that we stayed at had several people who arrived by motorcycle with all their camping gear secured on their bike. I had no clue how much equipment you could carry on a motorcycle, or how light people could travel.  My car was full to the brim with our camping gear, I would not be able to have gone one day camping on a motorcycle with all our stuff.

    I had to take the camping essentials like the laptop, coffee maker, camera charger and an electric fan to help cool off the primitive cabin we were staying in.  Yes, we stayed in a cabin, only because we could.  The cabin was very primitive 8′ X 8′ shed like structure with beds and 15 amp electrical service. Not having to pitch a tent or sleep on a deflating air mattress made camping civilized.

    Being self employed does not always lend itself to vacations or long weekends, especially when clients sometimes contact me at 8pm at night or Sunday at 11 am. The only reason I was able to get away and out of town was due to where I have my Toronto office space at Telsec. I send a notice to the receptionist to change how my calls were to be handled for the time that I was away, I had the receptionist inform my clients or other callers that I was away at a conference and I was reachable by cell phone for emergencies. While I had my laptop with me, but did not need to use it this weekend (except for my girlfriend to play solitaire on it).

    One funny part about the weekend was the guy in the next cabin over had his cell phone ringing off the hook. He works out of Edmonton and Toronto, so when his Ontario clients read that he is scheduled be in Toronto they want to call him to keep in touch. Somehow we got around to talking about how he was thinking about getting a virtual office in Toronto with a live receptionist to manage his calls and a place to pick up his business mail. I told him about the phone answering service and Toronto mail service that I started off with, before eventually getting my Toronto office space without having to change my address or phone number.

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  • The 82nd Academy Awards were held Sunday night, but overnight ratings are not expected to be good.  This is due in part to declining ratings in past years and the show running an hour past prime time.  This is also due to the fact that people are losing interest in the show.

    These days there are more choices when it comes to TV viewing, there are more channels, there are more programs and there are on-demand and DVR’s. The Oscars had there heyday when there were few networks and fewer channels. Polls on the Internet are showing that more people will not be watching the Oscars than will be watching.

    Even those people who are interested in the Academy Award results, can find those results on the Internet, seconds after they were announced. or wait until after the show to get the full results. See the bottom of this blog entry to get the Academy Awards results.

    Just as there are so many television options as alternatives to the Ocars, Telsec has many options for Toronto office space solutions. At Telsec, you can choose shared office space, semi private office space, team space, executive office space, city view office, lake view office and even a corner office. The choices of office options do not end at physical office space, as Telsec also offers Toronto virtual offices. You can choose to have Toronto mail service at a prestigious address or mail and telephone answering service Toronto where your calls are answered by a professional receptionist who handle your calls to your instructions.

    Before I give you the Academy Award results, I should mention that when you choose office space Toronto from Telsec, you are not only getting a great office space, but you are also getting a great downtown office location that offers easy access to public transit and plenty of inexpensive parking.

    Now “The Oscar goes to”:  (well just the top searched Oscar results)

    BEST PICTURE – The Hurt Locker
    BEST DIRECTOR – Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
    BEST ACTOR – Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
    BEST ACTRESS – Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
    BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
    BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS – Mo’nique, Precious
    BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY – Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker
    BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY – Geoffrey Fletcher, Precious
    BEST ANIMATED FEATURE – Up
    CINEMATOGRAPHY – Avatar Mauro Fiore
    COSTUME DESIGN – The Young Victoria Sandy Powell
    FILM EDITING – The Hurt Locker Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
    MAKEUP – Star Trek Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
    ORIGINAL SCORE – Up Michael Giacchino
    ORIGINAL SONG – The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)

    In closing, I also have to send a compliment to the organizers and staff of the Toronto International Bicycle Show for a fantastic job they did this past weekend.  I was not only entertained, but I found some amazing deals.  A new feature to this years bicycle show was the 24 hour spin. Hundreds of cyclists rode stationary bikes over the coarse of 24 hours to raise money for children with cancer.

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  • This year marks the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street. While the 40th anniversary show does not air until November 10th, Google is celebrating today by having Big Bird’s feet as its latest logo doodle. It took a while, but I noticed that the doodle looked a bit different than there usual themed doodles. Usually the letters are in the google themed order – blue, red, yellow, blue green red – but not this time all the letters are yellow in honour of big bird (whose feet are part of toadays logo).
    If it was not enough for First Lady Michelle Obama appears in the first episode of Sesame Street’s 40th season? Even United States President Barack Obama will be opening the show with a brief video. According to one news source I read, he will say the something like “Todays Sesame Street is brought to you by the number 40″.
    Like many of the people reading this blog, I grew up with Sesame Street. I learned some very valuble lessons. We all have our favorite characters, for most it is Big Bird, for me It was the Transylvanian Count von Count.
    In Honour of Count, I am going to leave you these points about Telsec. I hope I get the Transylvanian accent down good. Ok accents do not translate well in the written word, so you will just have to go back to your childhood and imagine Count Von Count saying this.
    Ooonnne good address at the number one address on Canada’s most famous street, 1 Yonge Street.
    Twooo Great Virtuall office packages. Toronto mail service and Telephone answering plus mail service.
    Threeee, large large board rooms, That are free for office clients to use.
    Foour … I do not have anything for Four, so I will skip to ten.
    Ten, With over ten different office packages, finding one that suits your needs should be very easy.
    Google Celebrates 40th Aniversary of Sesame Street

    Google Celebrates 40th Aniversary of Sesame Street

    This year marks the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street. While the 40th anniversary show does not air until November 10th, Google is celebrating today by having Big Bird’s feet as its latest logo doodle. It took a while, but I noticed that the doodle looked a bit different than there usual themed doodles. Usually the letters are in the google themed order – blue, red, yellow, blue green red – but not this time, all the letters are yellow in honour of big bird (whose feet are part of today’s logo).

    If it was not enough for First Lady Michelle Obama to appear in the first episode of Sesame Street’s 40th season? Even United States President Barack Obama will be opening the show with a brief video. According to one news source I read, he will say the something like “Todays Sesame Street is brought to you by the number 40″.

    Like many of the people reading this blog, I grew up with Sesame Street. I learned some very valuable lessons. We all have our favorite characters, for most it is Big Bird, for me It was the Transylvanian Count von Count.

    In Honour of Count, I am going to leave you these points about Telsec. I hope I get the Transylvanian accent down good. Ok accents do not translate well in the written word, so you will just have to go back to your childhood and imagine Count Von Count saying this.

    Ooonnne good address at the number one address on Canada’s most famous street, 1 Yonge Street.

    Twooo Great Virtual office packages. Toronto mail service and Telephone answering plus mail service.

    Threeee, large large boardrooms, That are free for office clients to use.

    Foour … I do not have anything for Four, so I will skip to ten.

    Ten, With over ten different Toronto office space packages, finding one that suits your needs should be very easy.

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  • Toronto Mail Service

    Toronto Mail Service

    When you open a Toronto mail service account or a virtual office Toronto account that includes a prestigious mailing address in a Downtown Toronto office space building, your mail is held for you or redirected to you on a weekly basis.

    If it is convenient to visit the office once or twice a week, keeping up on your mail is easy to keep track of your mail. If you getting a large sum of mail on a weekly basis and have it re directed, it can become quite a chore to sort out.

    Too often these days most of our postal mail is junk mail and un-solicited offers to do business. The mail we do want like cheques and  contracts seem to get buried in the pile of mail we recieve. While most of our mail is not of an urgent matter, often times there is mail we want ASAP.

    When mail is delivered to Telsec’s Toronto virtual office, the staff sorts it into the appropriate mail slots for each client. Some clients choose to have all mail forwarded to them on a weekly basis, but others prefer to call in and see if they have mail. Then there are the clients who have chosen to use the secretarial services and have their mail categorized and even opened to check for contents. For a small nominal fee, they can have cheques forwarded on a daily basis and the remainder of their mail sent on a weekly basis.

    Telsec works with their clients to find office service and secretarial packages that work best for the client. Even when a client wants a special service provided, there are no hidden fees, the price is provided to them up front.

    When you call Telsec, ask one of their friendly and professional staff about the many secretarial and administrative services they provide to their clients.

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