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A usable free proxy server for Windows users (emphasis on usable!)



 
 
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  #16  
Old December 25th 17, 07:05 AM posted to alt.windows7.general,alt.comp.os.windows-10
Chaya Eve
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Posts: 202
Default A usable free proxy server for Windows users (emphasis on usable!)

On Sun, 24 Dec 2017 17:03:40 +0100, Michael Logies
wrote:

But they all seem to offer only a web page for access, no proxy
configuration data for your web browser.


Thank you for checking that out where I was just asking if folks already
had the experience - so I appreciate your kind largesse!

Perhaps you are asking for the impossible, because there is no
business model for what you are looking for. Proxies need a lot of
bandwith and have to obey to law, both is expensive.


It seems that you may be completely correct in that they all seem to be web
portals, which allows them to add advertisements.

So it may be that the *only* free proxy-configuration type is the Opera
model, which is configured by clicking on the "enable vpn" button in the
web browser settings.

That's a lesson in and of itself.

Offering a proxy over a web page makes ads possible. And selling VPN
services is a business, too. Offering a free web proxy with
configuration data makes no sense - who should pay for it?


I agree with you that the free proxy server configuration model does not
appear to exist (or we can't find it).

I guess I just figured that it would exist because that's what Tor is,
essentially, and what Opera uses, essentially - but they're special cases
of the configurable proxy situation.

So the question has kind of morphed, out of necessity, to one of whether a
configurable free proxy server setup outside of those two special cases
even exists.
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  #17  
Old December 25th 17, 07:21 AM posted to alt.windows7.general,alt.comp.os.windows-10
Chaya Eve
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Posts: 202
Default A usable free proxy server for Windows users (emphasis on usable!)

On Mon, 25 Dec 2017 08:41:35 +0700, JJ wrote:

Since you ask for a free proxy *site*, which mean web based proxy (i.e. web
proxy), I'd say none which are reliable.


We found plenty of "web based proxy portals" but none that were
"configurable proxies" which weren't a single-page portal.

For non web proxy, I use Tor, I2P, and Toonel.


In general, Tor/privoxy/vidalia/etc. are hard to set up for a typical user.

The Tor Browser Bundle is a special case, where the trouble of setting it
up within a particular browser is done - but that only works for the
Firefox browser that is set up (usually a few revs back).

Likewise, Opera is already set up with a proxy; but I'm seeking a
configurable proxy setup for any browser.

As noted, this "configurable proxy" (or whatever it's called) may not exist
since all we can find are "web based portals" (which is something else
altogether).

I2P is similar to Tor with more functionalities.


Looking up I2P https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I2P, we can surmise that i2P
seems to fit the description in function, but not as a "proxy" per se.
https://thetinhat.com/tutorials/darknets/i2p.html

But I2P is interesting, so it deserves a better look:
https://thetinhat.com/tutorials/darknets/i2p.html

Hmmm. I2P seems to be a peer-to-peer connection of some sort.
I don't know anyone else on I2P (I never heard of it before) so I'm not
sure yet if it's useful.

Mainly I just want privacy on the net. That's all. I don't have a specific
web site or a specific person that I want to converse with. I just want
privacy on the net for my browsing sessions.

Toonel is similar to common proxy servers and it's
designed for mobile use, so it's not fast but more reliable than standard
free proxy servers.


I also never heard of "toonel" so I appreciate that suggestion.
Looking it up, http://toonel.net/qa.html Toonel seems to be aimed at
compression of your data.

I guess what you're saying is that an anonymity is introduced with the
compression scheme because of the fact that everything goes through the
Toonel servers? http://toonel.net/about.html

Those free standrad proxy servers listed on the net aren't reliable either.
They come and go pretty quickly and most of their speed is unstable.


We all have seen the same effect with the always-changing lists of free
NNTP public servers, remember way back when?

That's why I had asked for the best that people who have experience have
been using. So far nobody seems to use them - and yet - they abound.

Isn't that an enigma?
Why, if none of us are using them, do they seem to abound in the hundreds?

Who is using them if not people like us?
  #18  
Old December 25th 17, 07:38 AM posted to alt.windows7.general,alt.comp.os.windows-10
Chaya Eve
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Posts: 202
Default A usable free proxy server for Windows users (emphasis on usable!)

On Sun, 24 Dec 2017 17:03:40 +0100, Michael Logies
wrote:

http://www.techradar.com/news/the-best-free-web-proxy
The best free web proxy 2017
By Cat Ellis June 14, 2017 Software


Doing my homework, they list the following.
http://www.vpnbook.com/webproxy === this is a URL portal
https://www.hidemyass.com/proxy === this service is gone
http://www.kproxy.n.nu/ === this service appears to be gone
https://www.privoxy.org === this is likely what I asked for
https://www.filterbypass.me/ === this is a URL portal

Of those, the only one that *looks* like what I am asking about is privoxy,
but I'm not yet quite sure what privoxy actually does (despite reading the
FAQ at https://www.privoxy.org/faq/general.html.

But it does seem that Privoxy is what I was originally asking about, even
though I didn't realize it when I had asked.

I always thought privoxy was part of Tor but this says it's not:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privoxy

So maybe privoxy is what I want, if it has a set of free configurable
servers I can point to as the proxy servers.

Does it?
  #19  
Old December 25th 17, 07:47 AM posted to alt.windows7.general,alt.comp.os.windows-10
Chaya Eve
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Posts: 202
Default A usable free proxy server for Windows users (emphasis on usable!)

On Sun, 24 Dec 2017 17:03:40 +0100, Michael Logies
wrote:

https://securitygladiators.com/10-be...e-web-proxies/
10 Best Free Web Proxies for Safe and Anonymous Surfing
Top 10 Proxies
Updated June 2016!


Doing my homework for this site:
https://securitygladiators.com/10-best-free-web-proxies/

They list:
https://www.hidemyass.com/proxy === this service is gone
http://securefor.com === this is a URL portal
http://newipnow.com/ === this is a URL portal with an IP choice
https://hide.me/en/proxy === this is a URL portal
https://www.proxysite.com === this is a URL portal with an IP choice
http://anonymouse.org/anonwww.html === this is a URL portal
http://dontfilter.us === this is a URL portal
https://whoer.net/webproxy === this is a URL portal with an IP choice
http://www.blewpass.com === this is a URL portal with an IP choice
https://www.kproxy.com === this is a URL portal with an IP choice
  #20  
Old December 25th 17, 07:52 AM posted to alt.windows7.general,alt.comp.os.windows-10
Chaya Eve
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Posts: 202
Default A usable free proxy server for Windows users (emphasis on usable!)

On Sun, 24 Dec 2017 15:33:37 +0000, Andy Burns wrote:

Maybe the question should be "why do you expect a free, usable web proxy
to be available?"

For every person willing to open a proxy there must be thousands such as
yourself looking to eat up the bandwidth and power of the proxy server,
or put it on a list so that others can do the same.


The answer to your question is why does anyone here help someone else for
free?

Why do we help little old ladies cross the street?

Why do we ask tourists if they want their picture taken?

Why do we hand money to a beggar on the street?

Why does Tor exist? Why does Privoxy exist?

I'm not sure if I understand Privoxy - but it seems to be the only solution
to the problem so far.

https://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/quickstart.html
  #21  
Old December 25th 17, 11:40 AM posted to alt.windows7.general,alt.comp.os.windows-10
J. P. Gilliver (John)[_4_]
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Posts: 2,679
Default A usable free proxy server for Windows users (emphasis on usable!)

In message , Chaya Eve
writes:
[]
Mainly I just want privacy on the net. That's all. I don't have a specific
web site or a specific person that I want to converse with. I just want
privacy on the net for my browsing sessions.

[]
Basically, why - other than a general objection to being tracked and
similar? I, and most here I suspect, would rather not be tracked, have
my info. gathered (e. g. browsing and purchasing habits), and so on -
but we all have various levels of tolerance of what we'll accept for the
sake of convenience and free information.

Other than "all of the following", are there any of the following you're
more or less concerned about:

o owners of websites knowing your identity (various interpretations,
from name to credit card details) when you visit them

o third-party entities (search engines, ISPs, VPN/proxy operators, ...)
knowing where you visit

o second or third party entities knowing what you buy, either on their
own site (probably impossible to stop them collecting that!), or on
other sites

o anything else

(Not that I have _any_ answer to your question, but knowing which
aspects _you_ are concerned about - and their order of importance -
might help those who _can_ answer, and even help _you_ to decide
[/evaluate responses if any].)
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

As we journey through life, discarding baggage along the way, we should keep
an iron grip, to the very end, on the capacity for silliness. It preserves the
soul from desiccation. - Humphrey Lyttelton quoted by Barry Cryer in Radio
Times 10-16 November 2012
  #22  
Old December 25th 17, 07:12 PM posted to alt.windows7.general,alt.comp.os.windows-10
mechanic
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Default A usable free proxy server for Windows users (emphasis on usable!)

On Mon, 25 Dec 2017 06:38:56 +0000 (UTC), Chaya Eve wrote:

Of those, the only one that *looks* like what I am asking about is
privoxy, but I'm not yet quite sure what privoxy actually does
(despite reading the FAQ at https://www.privoxy.org/faq/general.html.


From what I remember from using it a while ago, it resides on your
machine (or on your LAN) so it won't hide your IP address if that's
important to you.

It's good at ad-blocking, but then so is Firefox (AdBlock) and
Opera.
  #23  
Old December 25th 17, 11:11 PM posted to alt.windows7.general,alt.comp.os.windows-10
Rene Lamontagne
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Posts: 2,549
Default A usable free proxy server for Windows users (emphasis onusable!)

On 12/24/2017 9:33 AM, Andy Burns wrote:
Chaya Eve wrote:

Now can we please get back to the question?


Maybe the question should be "why do you expect a free, usable web proxy
to be available?"

For every person willing to open a proxy there must be thousands such as
yourself looking to eat up the bandwidth and power of the proxy server,
or put it on a list so that others can do the same.



No free lunch

  #24  
Old December 26th 17, 04:23 AM posted to alt.windows7.general,alt.comp.os.windows-10
Chaya Eve
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Posts: 202
Default A usable free proxy server for Windows users (emphasis on usable!)

On Mon, 25 Dec 2017 18:12:11 +0000, mechanic wrote:

Of those, the only one that *looks* like what I am asking about is
privoxy, but I'm not yet quite sure what privoxy actually does
(despite reading the FAQ at https://www.privoxy.org/faq/general.html.


From what I remember from using it a while ago, it resides on your
machine (or on your LAN) so it won't hide your IP address if that's
important to you.

It's good at ad-blocking, but then so is Firefox (AdBlock) and
Opera.


Thank you for answering what Privoxy does, as I was reading it and I was
confused.

Many years ago, before the Tor Browser Bundle existed, I tried to set up
Firefox with Vidalia and Privoxy and Tor and it was a mess so I gave up,
unsuccessful. That was my only experience with Privoxy, so I thought it had
something to do with Tor.

When I look up the simplest things about Privoxy, I can't get a simple
description of it. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=what+is+privoxy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privoxy
"Privoxy is a "privacy enhancing proxy", filtering web pages and removing
advertisements."

So it's just a filter, but the MVP Hosts file is likely a better filter.
http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm

That means privoxy is not what I was asking about, and all the other URLs
we found were all web page portals.

So it may be that there are no existing free proxy settings to be found.
  #25  
Old December 26th 17, 04:24 AM posted to alt.windows7.general,alt.comp.os.windows-10
Chaya Eve
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Posts: 202
Default A usable free proxy server for Windows users (emphasis on usable!)

On Mon, 25 Dec 2017 16:11:59 -0600, Rene Lamontagne
wrote:

No free lunch


Not true. That's a platitude spoken by people who are greedy.

I have *often* helped people without asking for anything in return.

Sometimes, I don't even ask for a smile in return, or a thank you.

I do it out of the goodness of my heart.
  #26  
Old December 26th 17, 04:38 AM posted to alt.windows7.general,alt.comp.os.windows-10
Chaya Eve
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Posts: 202
Default A usable free proxy server for Windows users (emphasis on usable!)

On Mon, 25 Dec 2017 10:40:47 +0000, "J. P. Gilliver (John)"
wrote:

Basically, why - other than a general objection to being tracked and
similar?


I want privacy just like everyone else wants privacy.

Why do you brush your teeth every day? Didn't you just brush them this
morning?
Why do you wash your hands every day? Didn't you just wash them yesterday?=
Why do you close the bathroom door? What are you hiding?
Why do they have a "wait here" line at the pharmacy?
Why do you close your bedroom window blinds at night? Are you hiding
something?
etc

I, and most here I suspect, would rather not be tracked, have
my info. gathered (e. g. browsing and purchasing habits), and so on -
but we all have various levels of tolerance of what we'll accept for the
sake of convenience and free information.


Of course we all practice privacy every day. When you tell someone at a
party that their zipper is down, you often whisper it - right? You don't
yell out to them so that everyone can hear you.

When you go to the doctor to have a wart removed from your butt, the doctor
closes the door to the room, right?

When you call up to ask a product question and they ask you for all your
identification questions, you either ask why they need it just to answer a
question - or you do like I do - and give them bogus information.

When you buy a trinket at the local toy store and they ask for your phone
number, do you actually give them your *real* phone number? I don't.

They don't need my phone number to sell me that trinket.

Other than "all of the following", are there any of the following you're
more or less concerned about.


Privacy is like pulling up your zipper.
You do it all the time out of habit.

o owners of websites knowing your identity (various interpretations,
from name to credit card details) when you visit them


I never use a credit card on the web. Never. If I must buy something, I use
the telephone. And I never log in with my real name. Nor from my home ISP.
I am on a rotating VPN 100% of the time. Even now. It's just a habit, like
pulling up a zipper on a pair of pants or a skirt.

o third-party entities (search engines, ISPs, VPN/proxy operators, ...)
knowing where you visit


I use Duckduckgo and never use Google. I use the MVP Hosts file to block
all the doubleclick-like tracking. I clear every browser with every session
either automatically or by having the start page be the browser clearance.
Chrome Start Page: chrome://settings/clearBrowserData

o second or third party entities knowing what you buy, either on their
own site (probably impossible to stop them collecting that!), or on
other sites


I have all third-party cookies turned off and I would turn off cookies and
scripting if it were pragmatic - but it's not. So I clear cookies on all
browsers that will do it automatically upon exiting or upon opening.

o anything else


Basic privacy 101. I use a different browser for each web page.
So, for example, if I go to Forums.whatever.com, then that browser is
*only* for that web page.

If I then want to go to whatever.forums.com, then I use a different browser
for that.

Each web page I visit gets its own browser.

There is never any cross contamination except for my duckduckgo browser,
which, by necessity, has to run the searches and then I use a separate
browser (generally the Tor Browser Bundle) to check out the results of
those searches.

This is basic privacy practice that you just get used to if you set up
Windows with links. Links make it all easily possible (aka shortcuts).

(Not that I have _any_ answer to your question, but knowing which
aspects _you_ are concerned about - and their order of importance -
might help those who _can_ answer, and even help _you_ to decide
[/evaluate responses if any].)


All I care is about basic privacy 101 on the net.
Basic stuff that is easy on Windows since it's all done with shortcuts.
  #27  
Old December 28th 17, 11:03 AM posted to alt.windows7.general,alt.comp.os.windows-10
Andy Burns[_6_]
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Default A usable free proxy server for Windows users (emphasis onusable!)

Chaya Eve wrote:

maybe privoxy is what I want, if it has a set of free configurable
servers I can point to as the proxy servers.

Does it?


I have used privoxy in the past, it lets *you* install your own proxy
server, AFAIK they don't provide proxy servers, though of course some
people may use privoxy to provide freely available proxies.

  #28  
Old December 29th 17, 02:39 AM posted to alt.windows7.general,alt.comp.os.windows-10
Chaya Eve
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Posts: 202
Default A usable free proxy server for Windows users (emphasis on usable!)

On Thu, 28 Dec 2017 10:03:24 +0000, Andy Burns wrote:

I have used privoxy in the past, it lets *you* install your own proxy
server, AFAIK they don't provide proxy servers, though of course some
people may use privoxy to provide freely available proxies.


Thanks. I gave up on the task and went back to Opera because Opera seems to
be the *only* freely available public proxy server that passes *all* URLs
through the proxy.

All the rest, as noted, appear to be web portals only.

http://anonymouse.org/anonwww.html
http://dontfilter.us
http://kproxy.com/
http://newipnow.com/
http://securefor.com
http://www.blewpass.com
http://www.vpnbook.com/webproxy
https://hide.me/en/proxy
https://hide.me/en/proxy
https://hidester.com/proxy/
https://whoer.net/webproxy
https://whoer.net/webproxy
https://www.filterbypass.me/
https://www.kproxy.com
https://www.megaproxy.com/freesurf/
https://www.proxysite.com
https://www.proxysite.com
https://www.vpnbook.com/webproxy
https://zend2.com
etc.
  #29  
Old December 29th 17, 06:53 AM posted to alt.windows7.general,alt.comp.os.windows-10
Diesel
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Default A usable free proxy server for Windows users (emphasis on usable!)

Chaya Eve
news alt.windows7.general, wrote:

Q: What is a usable free proxy site that you *know* is usable?


I know of several of them. I obtain and test them with sites like
this:

http://www.proxy4free.com

From there, you should be able to find one that you can configure
your browser to use.

So this question has the emphasis on two factors:
You (a) *know* that this proxy server is (b) *usable*.


I know what your factors are, but, I'm not going to hold your hand
for you on this one. You can do somethings for yourself. Besides, a
proxy I use today could very well be history tomorrow; as is the
nature of free and open proxies and that won't do you much/any good.

Before you tell me it's easy to find a good one, you should see
what a search reveals - they are just lists of lists - where
nobody has the time to test them out - so I only ask someone who
*already* has a good *usable* free proxy server to recommend.


Some of those lists are quite useful and it only takes seconds in
most cases to configure your browser to test one of the proxies
listed. It's not rocket science.

http://www.idcloak.com/proxylist/fre...vers-list.html
https://www.proxynova.com/proxy-server-list/country-us/
https://nordvpn.com/free-proxy-list/
http://www.publicproxyservers.com
http://www.proxy4free.com/list/webproxy1.html
https://www.alltechbuzz.net/top-best...-servers-2016/
http://www.proxy4free.com


I've had prior experience with most of those lists and although I ran
into an occasional dead proxy on the lists, most of the time, I
scored. Nordvpn btw, is awesome. But it's more than just a proxy,
it's an actual vpn. They were offering a free trial and might still
be for a few days. Might be worth checking out. During my free trial,
I was even able to torrent (with decent speeds) without issue. And I
didn't need to install any custom software to do it.


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  #30  
Old December 29th 17, 04:29 PM posted to alt.windows7.general,alt.comp.os.windows-10
Chaya Eve
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Default A usable free proxy server for Windows users (emphasis on usable!)

On Fri, 29 Dec 2017 05:53:29 -0000 (UTC), Diesel wrote:

I know of several of them. I obtain and test them with sites like
this:
http://www.proxy4free.com


Thank you for that list of lists of lists of lists of lists.

I had already tested those, all of which all instantly and miserably failed
the clear criteria that Michael Logies , mechanic
, Andy Burns , and JJ
and I were discussing.

That entire page is just a marketing gimmick for *one* site!

Supposedly "top rated" proxies:
http://franceproxy.pw (portal with options for encrption, cookies, scripts)
http://11proxy.pw (same site, literally, as the 1st in the list above)
http://europroxy.pw (same site, literally, as the 1st in the list above)
http://proxyzan.info (same site, literally, as the 1st in the list above)
http://myproxysite.ga (same site, literally, as the 1st in the list above)
http://proxyeuro.pw (same site, literally, as the 1st in the list above)
http://9proxy.space (same site, literally, as the 1st in the list above)
http://ourwebproxy.ml (same site, literally, as the 1st in the list above)
http://unblockwebs.cf (same site, literally, as the 1st in the list above)
http://applepieproxy.xyz (this is the 1st different one but still a portal)
http://shinyproxy.eu (portal - but at least a different one still)
http://otlp.xyz (same site, literally, as the 1st in the list above)
http://789proxy.cf (same site, literally, as the 1st in the list above)
http://dacd.win (same site, literally, as the 1st in the list above)
http://bvpn.win (same site, literally, as the 1st in the list above)
etc.

You fell for a cheap marketing gimmick.

Which was my point from the start - that there are no good "lists" of lists
when it comes to proxy servers.

Worse, there appear to be zero "configuration" proxies.
At least if there are, nobody has listed a single one yet.

From there, you should be able to find one that you can configure
your browser to use.


You fell for the classic trick that the OP was written to avoid.
Every site on the page you referenced is a 'web portal' proxy.
Worse, the page you referenced is just a cheap marketing gimmick for a
single proxy portal site.

I know what your factors are, but, I'm not going to hold your hand
for you on this one. You can do somethings for yourself. Besides, a
proxy I use today could very well be history tomorrow; as is the
nature of free and open proxies and that won't do you much/any good.


You don't actually know because the web site you referenced is nothing but
an obvious blatant cheap marketnig trick for a single proxy portal site.

Some of those lists are quite useful and it only takes seconds in
most cases to configure your browser to test one of the proxies
listed. It's not rocket science.


You don't seem to understand what Michael Logies ,
mechanic , Andy Burns , and JJ
and I were discussing.

I never wanted what we're calling a 'web portal proxy'.
I wanted what we're calling a 'configuration proxy'.

Sort of like what Opera or Tor Browser Bundle do by configuration.
Only for any browser.

I've had prior experience with most of those lists and although I ran
into an occasional dead proxy on the lists, most of the time, I
scored.


It's trivial to 'score' a web-portal proxy.

There are litterally hundreds upon hundreds of different URLs, many of
which, as your own suggested site shows, are really the same outfit under
the guise of a different proxy.

So far, it has been impossible to score a configuration proxy.
I've already concluded as much from all the kind help in this thread.

I'll change my mind if one pops up, but so far, none have.
And I've run as many searches as anyone has.

Which is why I asked the question in the first place.

Nordvpn btw, is awesome. But it's more than just a proxy,
it's an actual vpn. They were offering a free trial and might still
be for a few days. Might be worth checking out. During my free trial,
I was even able to torrent (with decent speeds) without issue. And I
didn't need to install any custom software to do it.


As stated in the body of the OP, a VPN and Tor are completely different
things from a web proxy.

And as stated in the bodies of the thread, what we're calling a
"configuration proxy" is also a completely different thing than a mere
"portal proxy".

We all have lists upon lists upon lists upon lists with a 'portal proxy'.
Nobody seems to have found a single 'configuration proxy' yet.

This thread will be successfully answered if a single free configuration
proxy even exists on the net. Maybe it doesn't exist. It sure seems like it
doesn't exist based on what Michael, Andy, JJ, and I can find.
 




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