Saturday, September 17, 2011
First Week of Fall 2011
What's up everyone!
Fall 2011 has kicked off in full force. Classes have started, and it really feels like I'm entering the second year...
This year, I've got MATH 237, ACTSC 231, STAT 231, AFM 101 & CS 136... I didn't want to have an excess of math courses, so limited them to three, and took the latter two as hopefully useful electives...
MATH 237: Calculus, something to do with multiple variables. Professor Kohandel seems to be okay, the first lecture was a bit fragmented, but subsequent lectures were better off. Time will tell how we fare in this course...
ACTSC 231: Mathematics of Finance, related to the SOA FM Exam (that is next up on my list of actuarial papers). I expected this course to be more exciting, but Professor Freeland just goes on and on and on... and the examples are rather bland. Oh well, I guess will have to turn to the text for this one...
STAT 231: Intro to Stats. Stats can be dry, but when a prof just reads of the slides, that are actually provided as course notes, it becomes really lame. Right now, there's kid stuff like pie charts and histograms, but there's bound to be some challenging stuff further down into the course...
AFM 101: Financial Accounting. Prof Duane Kennedy is pretty good. So far, I'm enjoying the course. I rarely read up course material before class, but this class is one instance where I did, 'cuz it was interesting and pretty clear. Really hope to make this course count...
CS 136: Elementary Algorithm Design & Data Abstraction. Am I crazy for taking this course since I'm not a CS major? Maybe! Despite that the assignment problems can induce strings of curse words, I find programming to be fun and challenging. Gordon Cormack teaches in a nice, slow kind of a way, which makes it easy to connect the dots...
Well, this is kinda it. My course rundown...
I've been accepted as a Teaching Assistant for Math. Gonna be marking first year quizzes/assignments!
Thursday Night: Turned up Larry Smith's ECON 101! As usual, it was awesome!
Cooked up my tuna & spaghetti dinner yesterday, this time included a few additions from here. Turned out pretty good!
Roamed around for a bit in the University today. Wanted to take photos of the new Mathematics building, the M3. It's pretty neat, and for a change, it has lots of windows and sunlight (unlike the MC, affectionately known to Mathies as the "jail-house").
More photos from around UW (all shot today) can be found in my Facebook Album.
Looking forward to UWPC meetings... I just hope I can fit 'em around my schedule; might be easier this time, since no late evening classes...
So, that's it for this week. Lets see when the next post rolls around...
Until next time...
Good Night (or Day)
Keep reading ...
Fall 2011 has kicked off in full force. Classes have started, and it really feels like I'm entering the second year...
 |
| University of Waterloo - Uni Ave Entrance © Osama Sidat |
This year, I've got MATH 237, ACTSC 231, STAT 231, AFM 101 & CS 136... I didn't want to have an excess of math courses, so limited them to three, and took the latter two as hopefully useful electives...
MATH 237: Calculus, something to do with multiple variables. Professor Kohandel seems to be okay, the first lecture was a bit fragmented, but subsequent lectures were better off. Time will tell how we fare in this course...
ACTSC 231: Mathematics of Finance, related to the SOA FM Exam (that is next up on my list of actuarial papers). I expected this course to be more exciting, but Professor Freeland just goes on and on and on... and the examples are rather bland. Oh well, I guess will have to turn to the text for this one...
STAT 231: Intro to Stats. Stats can be dry, but when a prof just reads of the slides, that are actually provided as course notes, it becomes really lame. Right now, there's kid stuff like pie charts and histograms, but there's bound to be some challenging stuff further down into the course...
 |
| STAT 231 © Osama Sidat |
AFM 101: Financial Accounting. Prof Duane Kennedy is pretty good. So far, I'm enjoying the course. I rarely read up course material before class, but this class is one instance where I did, 'cuz it was interesting and pretty clear. Really hope to make this course count...
 |
| Professor Kennedy © Osama Sidat |
CS 136: Elementary Algorithm Design & Data Abstraction. Am I crazy for taking this course since I'm not a CS major? Maybe! Despite that the assignment problems can induce strings of curse words, I find programming to be fun and challenging. Gordon Cormack teaches in a nice, slow kind of a way, which makes it easy to connect the dots...
Well, this is kinda it. My course rundown...
I've been accepted as a Teaching Assistant for Math. Gonna be marking first year quizzes/assignments!
Thursday Night: Turned up Larry Smith's ECON 101! As usual, it was awesome!
Cooked up my tuna & spaghetti dinner yesterday, this time included a few additions from here. Turned out pretty good!
 |
| Spaghetti with Tuna Sauce © Osama Sidat |
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| Mathematics 3 - New Home of ActSci & Stats Depts © Osama Sidat |
More photos from around UW (all shot today) can be found in my Facebook Album.
Looking forward to UWPC meetings... I just hope I can fit 'em around my schedule; might be easier this time, since no late evening classes...
So, that's it for this week. Lets see when the next post rolls around...
Until next time...
Good Night (or Day)
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Return to Waterloo
Hello there folks!
I had intended to update the blog as soon as I moved in, however, until Monday night, my dwelling was devoid of an Internet connection... Since classes started on Monday, I've been pretty busy ensuring a smooth start to the term...
So here I am, back in Waterloo. As some readers might recall, I was having a fair bit of difficulty in obtaining a place for residence (Getting to Canada). On my trip to Waterloo to search for housing, I passed by my old place, which I'd been told was to be closed for rental by August. Luckily, I found a couple of people who knew me as a previous tenant, and was informed that the place would be up for another four months, and they had quite a number of rooms available. Hooray! I was getting a good deal so I immediately signed up! As they say, "Don't look at a gift horse in the mouth"...
Moved here with all my stuff on Friday... After dumping my bags, boxes, crates and what-not in the master bedroom... I had a monstrous task ahead of me... cleaning the kitchen...
And a rather dirty kitchen it was! Worse was the refrigerator! Had to hold my breath when clearing it out! Scrubbed and washed out every single shelf, every nook and cranny. The stink simply refused to go away... only to be cured a couple of days later by the utilization of some baking soda... And the microwave... it looked like someone had exploded something inside it!
Thankfully, an hour and a half later, the kitchen was totally cleaned out...
The next target was the bathroom... Which surprisingly did not take a very great effort...
Decided to take a break from the cleaning... Set out for Zehrs to get necessary groceries...
Returned back home around sunset. Rearranged bedroom furniture, and dusted and scrubbed the wooden flooring. Unpacked the bags and boxes and arranged all the stuff. It took a while, but it was totally worth it...
The only problem initially was no Internet. Two days without Net were crazily boring! Add to the fact that connecting via Fido through my BlackBerry gave a really crappy speed. Unable to bear much longer, I put in a few calls to SparkMatrix, the ISP who controls the Internet around here. Turns out that they can completely discontinued their services, and were starting from scratch... Took them a while to deliver... But on Monday night, finally got access...
So yeah, that was my moving-in story. For more pictures of my new place, see my Facebook album.
Hope you enjoyed this post. Stay tuned for "First Week of Fall 2011", which will probably be out sometime during the upcoming weekend...
Good Night/Day
Keep reading ...
I had intended to update the blog as soon as I moved in, however, until Monday night, my dwelling was devoid of an Internet connection... Since classes started on Monday, I've been pretty busy ensuring a smooth start to the term...
So here I am, back in Waterloo. As some readers might recall, I was having a fair bit of difficulty in obtaining a place for residence (Getting to Canada). On my trip to Waterloo to search for housing, I passed by my old place, which I'd been told was to be closed for rental by August. Luckily, I found a couple of people who knew me as a previous tenant, and was informed that the place would be up for another four months, and they had quite a number of rooms available. Hooray! I was getting a good deal so I immediately signed up! As they say, "Don't look at a gift horse in the mouth"...
 |
| My Home for Fall 2011 |
And a rather dirty kitchen it was! Worse was the refrigerator! Had to hold my breath when clearing it out! Scrubbed and washed out every single shelf, every nook and cranny. The stink simply refused to go away... only to be cured a couple of days later by the utilization of some baking soda... And the microwave... it looked like someone had exploded something inside it!
Thankfully, an hour and a half later, the kitchen was totally cleaned out...
 |
| A View of the Kitchen |
 |
| The Sink Missing the Plug... |
Returned back home around sunset. Rearranged bedroom furniture, and dusted and scrubbed the wooden flooring. Unpacked the bags and boxes and arranged all the stuff. It took a while, but it was totally worth it...
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| My Room |
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| My Closet |
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| My Working/Eating Table |
So yeah, that was my moving-in story. For more pictures of my new place, see my Facebook album.
Hope you enjoyed this post. Stay tuned for "First Week of Fall 2011", which will probably be out sometime during the upcoming weekend...
Good Night/Day
Monday, September 5, 2011
Getting To Canada
I'm back in Canada now...
This time, I maintained a sort of a blog on my BlackBerry, where I kept a "blow-by-blow" account from the point I entered the lounge at the Karachi airport, up till the time I retrieved my baggage at Pearson. I thought it would be interesting to document the things I experienced as they happened on my way there...
So, without further ado, here it is... Happy Reading!
Note: Times are in the format "Karachi/Toronto".
I had intended to properly conclude the memo on my BlackBerry when I got my stuff... Unfortunately, by the time my bags came around, my patience had thinned out considerably... I rushed out like a maniac... And totally forgot about my writeup until later during the day...
Re-activated my phone, and begun and search for residence as soon as I had freshened up a bit... Unfortunately, still looking... most of the places I had listed earlier, before leaving home, are no longer available...
Gonna head to UW tomorrow... Especially looking forward to seeing the Mathematics M3 building, which now houses the ActSci and Stats Departments...
So, this culminates my blog post for today... I hope I can maintain the blog a bit more regularly... :P
Keep reading ...
This time, I maintained a sort of a blog on my BlackBerry, where I kept a "blow-by-blow" account from the point I entered the lounge at the Karachi airport, up till the time I retrieved my baggage at Pearson. I thought it would be interesting to document the things I experienced as they happened on my way there...
So, without further ado, here it is... Happy Reading!
Note: Times are in the format "Karachi/Toronto".
6.39am/9.39pm: Sitting in the airport lounge now. Getting through all the airport procedures and stuff was, like always, a bit of a hassle. I should realize by now that it's all part of travel... Sunrise is looking beautiful from where I am sitting right now... 7.02am/10.02pm: Sudden change in departure gates... Yeah, thanks a lot PIA. From being at the forefront of the gate, to being pushed to near the back of the queue. Thankfully, was able to make my way to the front again, so I was one of the first few to board the plane... Now, seated in 24D, as comfortably as possible in an airplane... 7.09am/10.09pm: Just like last year, there seems to be quite a lot of people on the flight... 7.21am/10.21pm: The passengers are mainly students and hyper groups of kids with seemingly irritated moms... 7.43am/10.43pm: In-Flight Catalog = Can barely pass 5 minutes of your time... Oh yeah, the announcement just came, we are getting ready to depart! 7.53am/10.53pm: "... Umeed hai kay aap ka safar khushgawar rahay ga... " Plane taxiing now... 7.55am/10.55pm: Why is the background music on PIA so oriental, like something out of a Chinese restaurant??? 8.00am/11.00pm: Fourteen and a half hours, 12250km to destination... 8.03am/11.03pm: Why are the innards of the plane creaking during take-off??? 8.18am/11.18pm: Sooo... we are up in the air... And I'm already starting to get bored... 8.25am/11.25pm: Okay, so I thought I should check out if any movies or anything are available on the flight... Well, the entertainment system doesn't seem to be working yet... The pilot's going on and on about "how" we'll get there... 8.33am/11.33pm: Just got a pair of headphones and a smelly "blanket"... The latter is only suitable for use as an alternate cushion... 8.43am/11.43pm: In-Flight entertainment is on... A couple of movies are probably worth watching... Even if I might have seen 'em before... 8.49am/11.49pm: Watching "The Mechanic" 9.00am/12.00am: Breakfast here... Let's check it out... Though this time, I brought my own sandwich, thanks to Mom, like Ron Weasley; difference is that I actually look forward to eating the sandwich instead of the airline food... 10.27am/1.27am: Breakfast was the usual omelette that didn't really appeal to me beyond a couple of bites. Ate a bit of the strange kebab they had provided with the omelette, along with a croissant with strawberry jam. Was still hungry, so turned to my real meal: homemade hunter-beef sandwiches... Thanks a lot, Mom! Now, movie's over, and on a full stomach, I'm feeling a tad bit sleepy. Might as well try to nap while I still can... 1.27pm/4.27am: Past 3 hours were spent fidgeting about in my seat, trying to make myself comfortable enough to sleep. I guess I might've gotten about an hour or two's worth of napping. Right now, wide awake again, will watch Russell Peters on my laptop, which will hopefully take care of another couple of hours, that is, if the laptop battery keeps up... Eight and a half hours, 7123km to destination... 4.10pm/7.10am: Had a good laugh with Russell Peters latest show. Didn't have any other movies on the laptop, so spent the remaining battery time on a few games of Minesweeper. It's strange how a game that I didn't get at all a year back can be so addicting. The ride over Northern Europe was rather bumpy... The seat belt sign hasn't switched off since. Will check out the In-Flight movies again, to pass some time. Six hours, 4900km to destination... 6.00pm/9.00am: Watching "Gladiator"... Felt hungry, so ate my second sandwich. Soon after, PIA served dinner/lunch. Didn't feel like eating much of it... I just hope the next few hours pass by quickly... 7.16pm/10.16am: Starting to get tired now. Tummy acting up. Plus, the air-conditioner seems to be down, starting to get warm. Still, three hours, 2200km to go... 9.12pm/12.12pm: Another hour still to go... I've had enough of the flight... 10.03pm/1.03pm: Descending, gonna land in 20 minutes... 10.24pm/1.24pm: Touchdown! 11.02pm/2.02pm: Waiting for baggage... This is gonna take a while...
I had intended to properly conclude the memo on my BlackBerry when I got my stuff... Unfortunately, by the time my bags came around, my patience had thinned out considerably... I rushed out like a maniac... And totally forgot about my writeup until later during the day...
Re-activated my phone, and begun and search for residence as soon as I had freshened up a bit... Unfortunately, still looking... most of the places I had listed earlier, before leaving home, are no longer available...
Gonna head to UW tomorrow... Especially looking forward to seeing the Mathematics M3 building, which now houses the ActSci and Stats Departments...
So, this culminates my blog post for today... I hope I can maintain the blog a bit more regularly... :P
Saturday, July 30, 2011
My Attempt at The SOA Exam P
** If you came here in search of SOA exam books or similar PDF files, you'll be sorely disappointed... This is just an account of how I prepared for my exam and how it went.**
After a couple of months of poring over that behemoth of a book, I sat for the exam this past Thursday.
The SOA/CAS Exam P/1, best known as the "Probability" exam in ActSci circles... was the first of the preliminary papers towards me becoming an ASA (Associate of the SOA)...
Exam P is definitely a tough cookie to crack. The practice problems themselves were quite troublesome, and even then, I would highly disagree with the sentence that was place at the beginning of the "Practice Exams Section" of the book... "Note that some of the questions on these practice exams are somewhat more challenging than the typical exam questions."
Exam was scheduled to be after midday... For some unknown reason, my nerves are never too good when it comes to afternoon exams... I'm fine with morning exams, but afternoon ones make me a lot more nervous than usual... Add to that the fact that the exam center security is as if I am going to meet a VIP or something!
Anyways, best thing was I didn't have to wait for too long for the exam to start (very unlike CIE exams)... I was led to a computer, given scrap paper and told that the exam would end when the timer hit zero (duh!).
Probably one of the most nerve-wracking exams I've had so far. For those who don't know, the exam contains 30 MCQs. One would think that three hours would be more than enough... But Nooo! Each question seemed crazier than the last! There were questions for which I had absolutely no clue where to start off! And then there were questions for which the answers came way too easily... makes you suspect foul play!
One minute remaining, I had 5 unanswered questions to go... Questions I had skipped past by, since I had no clue how to make head or tail of them. I had forced my way through the rest of the 25, and could only be really sure about 50% of my answers. In any case, in the last minute, I chose the 5 answers (for the incomplete ones) that "looked" best!
The exam time ended... In great trepidation, I expected the next screen to pop up with the bad news... something like those annoying scratch cards, "Sorry, Try Again"... only to face a stupid survey about how I liked the exam and how nice I found the exam center... Another 14 (stupid) questions that I rushed through, anxious to get to the end...
And finally, there it came! Screen popped up, "Congratulations! A preliminary analysis of your test results shows that you were successful in achieving the passing score..." blah, blah, blah! Alhamdolillah, I had cleared it!
So ends the story of the Probability Exam, at least at my end. Official results will come out in 8 weeks, dunno if they include scores of some sort... hope they do... I want to know how close I was to the brink...
Now... I've got little/nothing to do! Have to begin a search for residence... but I'm feeling lazy and not doing much except playing Call of Duty!
I saw my blog today after a long time of absence, haven't written anything since my last post about the lunar eclipse. I know I won't be a regular poster (unlike the early days of the blog)... but I'll try and drop in now and again!
Until next time...
After a couple of months of poring over that behemoth of a book, I sat for the exam this past Thursday.
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| My Weapons in My Battle Against Probability © Osama Sidat |
The SOA/CAS Exam P/1, best known as the "Probability" exam in ActSci circles... was the first of the preliminary papers towards me becoming an ASA (Associate of the SOA)...
Exam P is definitely a tough cookie to crack. The practice problems themselves were quite troublesome, and even then, I would highly disagree with the sentence that was place at the beginning of the "Practice Exams Section" of the book... "Note that some of the questions on these practice exams are somewhat more challenging than the typical exam questions."
Exam was scheduled to be after midday... For some unknown reason, my nerves are never too good when it comes to afternoon exams... I'm fine with morning exams, but afternoon ones make me a lot more nervous than usual... Add to that the fact that the exam center security is as if I am going to meet a VIP or something!
Anyways, best thing was I didn't have to wait for too long for the exam to start (very unlike CIE exams)... I was led to a computer, given scrap paper and told that the exam would end when the timer hit zero (duh!).
Probably one of the most nerve-wracking exams I've had so far. For those who don't know, the exam contains 30 MCQs. One would think that three hours would be more than enough... But Nooo! Each question seemed crazier than the last! There were questions for which I had absolutely no clue where to start off! And then there were questions for which the answers came way too easily... makes you suspect foul play!
One minute remaining, I had 5 unanswered questions to go... Questions I had skipped past by, since I had no clue how to make head or tail of them. I had forced my way through the rest of the 25, and could only be really sure about 50% of my answers. In any case, in the last minute, I chose the 5 answers (for the incomplete ones) that "looked" best!
The exam time ended... In great trepidation, I expected the next screen to pop up with the bad news... something like those annoying scratch cards, "Sorry, Try Again"... only to face a stupid survey about how I liked the exam and how nice I found the exam center... Another 14 (stupid) questions that I rushed through, anxious to get to the end...
And finally, there it came! Screen popped up, "Congratulations! A preliminary analysis of your test results shows that you were successful in achieving the passing score..." blah, blah, blah! Alhamdolillah, I had cleared it!
So ends the story of the Probability Exam, at least at my end. Official results will come out in 8 weeks, dunno if they include scores of some sort... hope they do... I want to know how close I was to the brink...
Now... I've got little/nothing to do! Have to begin a search for residence... but I'm feeling lazy and not doing much except playing Call of Duty!
I saw my blog today after a long time of absence, haven't written anything since my last post about the lunar eclipse. I know I won't be a regular poster (unlike the early days of the blog)... but I'll try and drop in now and again!
Until next time...
Sunday, June 19, 2011
The Lunar Eclipse
Hi there folks!
Ever since I got back, haven't been doing much photography... I think the warm weather is somewhat to blame...
However, an opportunity presented itself in the shape of the lunar eclipse, which occurred between the past Thursday and Friday...
The skies were rather cloudy in this part of the world, and far from ideal for a good lunar eclipse shot. Nevertheless, it was an interesting experience...
Other images from the lunar eclipse can be found here.
For this shoot, I used my Sony Alpha A100, with the Sony 55-200mm, Minolta 70-210mm f/4, and a Tamron 2X teleconverter.
As the moon began to near the full eclipse, the eclipsed part began to become red, almost glowing. Unfortunately, as the eclipse moved towards completion, the clouds cover intensified, resulting in the conclusion of the shoot. It was said that the "Milky Way" would be visible this time around during the lunar eclipse... which the clouds apparently barred us from seeing...
Anyways... enjoy the pics!
Until next time...
Keep reading ...
Ever since I got back, haven't been doing much photography... I think the warm weather is somewhat to blame...
However, an opportunity presented itself in the shape of the lunar eclipse, which occurred between the past Thursday and Friday...
The skies were rather cloudy in this part of the world, and far from ideal for a good lunar eclipse shot. Nevertheless, it was an interesting experience...
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| Dramatic Skies © Osama Sidat |
 |
| In the Midst of Clouds © Osama Sidat |
 |
| Eerie © Osama Sidat |
 |
| The Glowing Red Moon © Osama Sidat |
Other images from the lunar eclipse can be found here.
For this shoot, I used my Sony Alpha A100, with the Sony 55-200mm, Minolta 70-210mm f/4, and a Tamron 2X teleconverter.
As the moon began to near the full eclipse, the eclipsed part began to become red, almost glowing. Unfortunately, as the eclipse moved towards completion, the clouds cover intensified, resulting in the conclusion of the shoot. It was said that the "Milky Way" would be visible this time around during the lunar eclipse... which the clouds apparently barred us from seeing...
Anyways... enjoy the pics!
Until next time...
Monday, June 13, 2011
To Be Back Home...
Hello Readers (If there are any of you left out there :P)!
A lot happened since my last post... Last time I posted, I was just a day or two fresh from the excursion to Niagara...
Let's just skip to where I stand today.
I am back home...
At first... it felt like a dream... the eight months I spent back at Waterloo felt more like 8 years... Everything that used to be really familiar seemed new and unusual... It was as if the 14 hours in the flight had transported me back to the past, in some sense...
In the space of 14 hours, I was transported from a wonderful 15°C to an earth-scorching 34°C (Or was it more!)... Not pretty... It would not be incorrect if I said that weather here was one of the things I DID NOT miss...
And the traffic... I think Canada tamed me quite a bit... the traffic seemed a lot more noisier and rowdier than usual... I mean... do they even have a "Right of Way" concept here?
KESC was rather kind to me... didn't see an outage in the first couple of days after landing... but since then... it has been business as usual... I must admit, my tolerance to the heat has taken a rather sharp dip... Quite understandable, even if I do say so myself. Spending 4 months in subzero temperatures kinda has that effect...
Nevertheless... The joy of seeing loved ones makes it all worth while...
It's good to be back home. In a way, it makes the next term look more exciting, even if a bit...
Am studying for ActSci Exam P these days... it's a little dry, and takes quite a bit of an effort to sit and work at it... Anyways, gotta do what is necessary since exam is in the last week of July...
I guess that will be all for today... I just saw my blog and thought it could use an update...
Until next time...
Keep reading ...
A lot happened since my last post... Last time I posted, I was just a day or two fresh from the excursion to Niagara...
Let's just skip to where I stand today.
I am back home...
At first... it felt like a dream... the eight months I spent back at Waterloo felt more like 8 years... Everything that used to be really familiar seemed new and unusual... It was as if the 14 hours in the flight had transported me back to the past, in some sense...
In the space of 14 hours, I was transported from a wonderful 15°C to an earth-scorching 34°C (Or was it more!)... Not pretty... It would not be incorrect if I said that weather here was one of the things I DID NOT miss...
And the traffic... I think Canada tamed me quite a bit... the traffic seemed a lot more noisier and rowdier than usual... I mean... do they even have a "Right of Way" concept here?
KESC was rather kind to me... didn't see an outage in the first couple of days after landing... but since then... it has been business as usual... I must admit, my tolerance to the heat has taken a rather sharp dip... Quite understandable, even if I do say so myself. Spending 4 months in subzero temperatures kinda has that effect...
Nevertheless... The joy of seeing loved ones makes it all worth while...
It's good to be back home. In a way, it makes the next term look more exciting, even if a bit...
Am studying for ActSci Exam P these days... it's a little dry, and takes quite a bit of an effort to sit and work at it... Anyways, gotta do what is necessary since exam is in the last week of July...
I guess that will be all for today... I just saw my blog and thought it could use an update...
Until next time...
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